


Life's (Kate's) a bitch and then you (she) dies

by Littleredridinghunter



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Stiles, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski-centric, Emotionally Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Hurt Sheriff Stilinski, Hurt Stiles, Kidnapped Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Pining Derek, Protective Derek, Protective Scott, Protective Sheriff Stilinski, Scarred Stiles, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out, Slavery, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, So much angst, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski Gets Shot, Stiles Stilinski is Derek Hale's Anchor, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Pack, Stiles Stilinski's Name is Mieczysław, Suicidal Thoughts, everyone is protective of stiles, kates a bitch, scott is an idiot but tries to be a good friend, she deserves so much more than she gets, so does Derek, so much hurt stiles, stiles makes a good dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-03 00:11:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 320,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21170198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littleredridinghunter/pseuds/Littleredridinghunter
Summary: While everyone is busy saving Jackson, Stiles is taking a beating in the Argent's basement. When his dad gets hurt, he leaves a note for Scott that he is getting away from everything and to never contact him again.Too bad Scott and the pack take him at his word....One year later and they finally see Stiles again but it isn't a happy reunion. Can they repair all the damage that has been caused in their time apart?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies this has been so long in getting posted, I hope the wait has been worth it for some of you.  
Please be aware there are graphic descriptions of violence throughout this story. There is lots and lots of hurt Stiles. Don't say I didn't warn you. Like, seriously, you are going to get sick of hurt Stiles.  
There are non-consensual sexual attacks (several of them so be warned and some are quite graphic!) and there are mentions of suicidal thoughts (definitely because of the situation but making sure people are aware).  
There is a happy ending eventually and although I'd love to write more in this world at some point, for now I'm going to move to a different one! (I have lots of fic ideas and not sure which to start on!). Disclaimer: obviously I own none of these characters blah blah blah.  
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading!

Erica ran through the preserve like the hounds of hell themselves were chasing after her, she could feel Boyd’s presence at her side, knew that he was running just as fast, both of them glancing over their shoulders every few seconds to make sure that they weren’t being followed, that their hunters hadn’t caught up with them just yet. Her sides were hurting, one leg still bleeding, not quite healed yet, she couldn’t catch her breath, she was exhausted but the terror she felt gave her all the motivation she needed to keep moving, to keep running, if they were caught, they would both be killed. 

Boyd watched as Erica stumbled on an old tree root, grabbing hold of her arm to stop her falling completely, he took a moment to steady her, looking around at their surroundings and focusing on the sound of a river nearby, he sighed in relief. 

“Come on, there’s a river less than half a mile ahead, if we can cross that, they won’t be able to track us, we can find somewhere to hide, to heal.” He whispered, Erica gritted her teeth, ignoring the throbbing in her leg and straightened up as best she could, nodding in determination as Boyd pulled them both forwards, through the preserve, through the freezing cold river that left her teeth chattering, until, finally, they found a small cave in the rocks ahead of them. Boyd led her inside, sinking to the floor next to her and catching his breath, examining his own injuries, at least they were healing, he knew that. They just needed time to heal properly, he only hoped that their captors were too busy with everything else going on to worry about trying to track them down. 

Derek stared around the warehouse in shock, he didn’t know how it had come to this, he didn’t know where his life had gone so wrong, he should have been living in his own house, one that he’d built with his own hands out in the preserve somewhere, he should have been going over to his mom and dad’s house a few times a week for dinner, maybe dating somebody, a woman or man, it didn’t really make that much difference to him, so long as it was somebody who cared about him, who Derek loved just as much in return. But, no. That wasn’t how things had gone. 

He guessed he could pinpoint the moment things started to go downhill for him, it was the moment he met Kate Argent. Sometimes he thought it was before that, when his first girlfriend Paige died at his hands, Derek hadn’t wanted her to die, he’d wanted to spend his life with her, that had all been ended by a simple bite. Peter had thought he was doing the right thing, asking the Alpha Ennis to bite Paige, to turn her into a werewolf, Derek had agreed with him at first, thinking that if Paige was a werewolf then they could finally be together without any secrets between them, he’d changed his mind, realised it was the wrong thing to do, he’d tried to stop Ennis, but he was too late. Paige had been bitten and Ennis had left her in the middle of the school hall like a piece of trash, Derek had hated him in that moment, his mother had always taught him that anybody you gave the bite to became part of your pack, that the bite was a gift, if Ennis had been any kind of Alpha he would have taken care of Paige, not just left her there like she was nothing. 

It hadn’t taken Derek long to realise that Paige wasn’t going to survive the bite, that it was going to kill her, he’d taken her to the old root cellar and they’d held each other for as long as they could, until Paige had begged for him to end it and Derek had hugged her tightly, holding her as gently as he could before snapping her neck and killing her instantly. He’d cried, holding Paige’s body, he’d cried until his mother and older sister, Laura, had both appeared down in the cellar, hugging him, telling him it was all going to be okay even though he had no idea how it was ever going to be okay. He’d spent weeks, months, grieving for Paige and that was when Kate Argent had appeared in his life and things had gone from bad to worse. 

Within a year of Paige’s death, practically Derek’s entire family was dead, his mom, his dad, his three younger sisters, two aunties, four uncles, eight cousins, all dead, burned alive in a fire started by someone he’d trusted. Peter was alive but barely, he was in a coma in the hospital and the doctors thought he’d never wake up, Laura was now his Alpha, his protector, and she grabbed him tight and they ran, left their home, their territory, they ran until they couldn’t run any further and they spent the next six years looking over their shoulders, convinced that Kate would be back to finish the job she’d started. 

Derek hadn’t known she was a werewolf hunter, hadn’t known she was part of the family that hunted and killed werewolves indiscriminately, it didn’t matter that Derek’s family had never hurt a single human, it didn’t matter that his mother, Talia Hale, was the most respected Alpha out of all the packs across the country, all that mattered was that they were werewolves and therefore they were monsters. Kate had used him, seduced him, convinced him to spill secrets on his families lives and Derek had been too stupid to see otherwise, and because of that, his entire family were dead. He vowed never to be so stupid again, to never open up to anyone again, to never trust anyone again. 

He slept around, a lot, always making sure he was the one in control, never giving anyone the chance to hurt him again, it allowed him to blow off some steam, but, none of them ever meant anything, just a way to try and forget for a few minutes that he was responsible for the death of everyone he cared about. Laura argued with him about it a lot, she kept telling him that he could do better, that he deserved better, that he just needed to trust somebody, to let somebody in, but, how could he? No matter how many times Laura told him that it wasn’t his fault, it never changed the fact that, for Derek, it would always be his fault, his stupidity, his naivety, his gullibility, he was the reason that they were all dead. It was his fault. 

They’d eventually settled in New York, it wasn’t their home, that was Beacon Hills and it always would be. They built some semblance of a life there, got jobs, a small apartment, it wasn’t what they wanted, but it was the best they could get, after all, returning to Beacon Hills with Kate still out there, it was suicide.

After six years away, Laura had returned to Beacon Hills without Derek’s knowledge, she’d told him she was going on a business trip, that she’d be back in New York soon enough, she’d barely been there a day when she was killed by a rogue wolf and Derek had crumbled as he felt the bond with her break, unable to believe that the last of his pack was gone. He’d tracked her phone, horrified when he realised where she was, traumatised that she’d gone without him, that she was now dead too, that his entire family was gone. He’d returned to Beacon Hills with rage and grief driving him, he knew it was a suicide mission, knew that he would likely die at the hands of the Alpha that had killed Laura, but he didn’t care, he’d wanted to die, wanted his suffering to end, he was fed up of losing everyone, fed up of having to continue on when it was his fault that nobody else got that chance. He’d been ready to die. 

Instead he’d met two high schoolers, Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski, Scott was a freshly bitten werewolf, no doubt bitten by the rogue Alpha that was now running around Beacon Hills after murdering Laura and taking her Alpha status, and Stiles, well, Stiles was something else altogether, he’d somehow managed to guess that Scott was a werewolf before Scott himself, and it hadn’t taken him much to figure out that Derek was a werewolf too. 

Derek didn’t trust him, convinced that Stiles was just trying to get close to him in order to betray him, he couldn’t be sure how, but he was certain that Stiles was trying to use him in some way or another. He was almost certain that Stiles wasn’t a hunter, not like Alison Argent, the girl that Scott had decided to start dating, something that Stiles had repeatedly told him was a bad idea, Derek agreed with him wholeheartedly but Scott wouldn’t listen to Stiles, never mind Derek. 

Stiles was smart, scarily so, and he was funny and sarcastic and he always seemed to have Derek’s back, no matter what went down; when it turned out that his uncle Peter was the wolf that had killed Laura and taken her Alpha powers; when Peter tried to kill him on multiple occasions; when Kate FUCKING Argent returned to Beacon Hills and shot him with a wolfsbane bullet, poisoning him and nearly killing him, Stiles had been there. Right at his side. Doing his best to help and protect Derek. Admittedly, Stiles couldn’t do much, what with him being an ordinary sixteen-year-old kid and they were going up against werewolves and crazy hunters, but Stiles never backed down. His sense of right and wrong was incredible, he knew what was right, he knew what was wrong, once he’d made his mind up there was no changing it and he would argue with Derek, and anybody else that he had to, until they could see it too. Yeah, Stiles was pretty amazing. To top it off, to say he was kind of attractive was an understatement, he was gorgeous, Derek knew he shouldn’t be thinking that about Stiles, not when he was so young, not when it reminded him so much of Kate and himself, but, that was different, Kate had never been attracted to him, she’d just used him for fun. 

Derek often thought about blowing off some steam with Stiles, often thought about what it would be like to take control of the young man and fuck him until neither of them could think straight. He didn’t though, sometimes he told himself it was because Stiles was underage and he was the son of the local sheriff and that was just asking for trouble, but, sometimes he couldn’t lie to himself, sometimes he admitted to himself it was because Stiles felt important, that he couldn’t just use him like that. It didn’t stop him from going back to New York on the occasional business trip and blowing off some steam with people that had distinct similarities with Stiles, but it wasn’t like he was going to tell anybody about that.

The more he learned about Stiles the more he became convinced that Stiles wasn’t out to betray him, after killing Peter, who had thankfully killed Kate first, and becoming the Alpha, Stiles had sat him down, told him how sorry he was, not for losing his entire family, not for Laura’s death, but because the last member of his family was dead and it was at Derek’s hands. Stiles explained that although he didn’t know what it was like to lose the last member of his family, he did know what it was like to kill one of them, Derek had stared at him like he’d lost his mind while Stiles explained that his mom had died just before he had turned eight, that she’d died convinced that Stiles was trying to kill her. 

“But that doesn’t mean you actually killed her.” Derek said and Stiles shook his head, looking a little tearful but shaking his head as if that would rid them from his eyes.

“But I did. She had frontotemporal dementia, her mind was basically falling apart, and she just kept getting worse, within six months of her getting diagnosed she was in the hospital, she couldn’t remember dad, couldn’t remember them getting married or her having me, she remembered me though, every time she saw me she started ranting and raving about how I was trying to kill her. It got so bad that dad told me I couldn’t go and see her anymore. Her heart was getting weaker, under the stress, the strain of not understanding, the confusion and fear, you know, that kind of thing. Dad was working all hours of the day, I think because he didn’t want to deal with the fact mom was dying, and he really didn’t know how to deal with me, if you think I’m hyperactive now you should have seen me then. He told me to go to Scott’s house after school, but his dad picked him up early because he had a dentist’s appointment and I was left by myself after school. I decided to go to the hospital, it wasn’t far to walk, and I hadn’t seen mom in a week, I just wanted to see her, even though dad said I shouldn’t, so I went to see her. She seemed okay at first, I mean, she had no idea who I was, but she was friendly, kind, she reminded me of my mom, the woman I used to know.” Stiles paused taking a deep breath, “I told her it was me, I said my name, my first name, and as soon as she realised who I was she started screaming, telling me I was trying to kill her, that I was going to kill her.” Stiles took a deep breath, “Then she just…collapsed, and the monitors started going off and these nurses rushed in and…” He cleared his throat uncomfortably, “She died from a massive heart attack. Dad came in later, he’d been on scene at a traffic accident, he hadn’t known I’d gone to the hospital, he was upset and angry and he yelled at me, told me I should have never been there. He apologized afterwards, but, I knew, it was my fault. If I hadn’t gone, she wouldn’t have died.” 

“She would have died eventually though.” Derek said, trying not to cave, trying not to offer Stiles the comfort that his wolf so desperately wanted him to. 

“I know, but she could have had more time, she could have had more good days, more time with dad, I took that time away from him because I was selfish, I wanted to see my mom and I killed her instead. So, the point I’m trying to make, is, well, I know how it feels to be responsible for someone you care about dying, and, I know Peter was all kinds of crazy at the end, but, I’m sure he wasn’t always like that, and, if you ever want to talk, I’ll listen.” Stiles said quietly, not really surprised when Derek glared at him in silence. “Or not. Look, the offers always there. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it, I’m sure you’ve got loads of work to do and those plans aren’t going to draw themselves.” Stiles rambled and Derek stilled. 

“Plans? What plans?” He asked dangerously and Stiles winced guiltily, a sudden blush appearing on his cheeks. 

“Okay, don’t be mad…”

“What are you talking about?” Derek growled. 

“Well, um, I kind of, back when I thought you might be a murderer, which, really, to be fair, I only thought it for a day or two at most I swear…”

“Stiles.” Derek snarled. 

“I may have dug in to you just a little bit and found out that you work for an architectural firm in New York and then I may have rung up and spoken to them and asked for a reference because you were planning on renting one of my apartments for a few months while you were back in town and then I got chatting to Mary, she’s the receptionist in case you didn’t know, although she said you should know because you always bring her her favourite coffee order whenever you come into the office which is only like once a month because the majority of your work is done from home but you still remember her coffee order and you always say hello and are polite and friendly and smiling which I thought was super weird and I asked if we were definitely talking about the same Derek Hale and she described you and it definitely was, but, dude, you smile? Like, seriously? Also, you wear a suit? Because, like, that’s kind of awesome, I thought you were way too in to leather so you in suit would be good. Anyway, yeah, so I got a reference from your bosses and they said that you’re always on time with projects and go above and beyond to do the best job and you’re one of the best in the business and yeah, lots of good stuff, like, they think really highly of you, so I made a joke about I should be charging you more for rent and then they asked me about my business, how many apartments I have and stuff and did I need someone to redesign things and I sort of, maybe, made out I was like some billionaire landlord thing and said I’d just ask you directly and offer you a job and they said about how they wouldn’t let me steal you away and, yeah, I got off the phone with them a bit later, but, yeah, I kind of figured you couldn’t be a murderer because everyone only had positive things to say about you and you have a job and a life in New York and you were probably only grumpy here because Laura was dead and werewolves and you know…” Stiles curled his fingers into mock claws, “All that crap, so I figured I’d help you whenever I could. Sorry about calling your work. I hope I didn’t get you into trouble. Now I’m going to leave.” He said, already turning on his heel and practically running out of the remains of the burned-out Hale house where Derek had taken to staying in. 

Derek had stared after him in shock, it didn’t really surprise him that Stiles had done something like that, that was the kind of thing Stiles did all the time. It did surprise Derek that he’d admitted to it, and, not that he’d ever tell Stiles, but his employers had called him a few months ago, probably after Stiles’ phone call, telling him they were increasing his salary and wanted him to renew his contract for the next two years. Derek had agreed easily, the job worked for him, he enjoyed it, he got to pick which projects he wanted to work on, he got to do everything from home or wherever he was and whatever time of the day he wanted and he only had to go in and see people when the clients wanted to speak to him about his designs, which was very rarely, which worked for him because Derek didn’t really like being around that many people for long periods of time and the thought of being trapped in a small office cubicle actually made him kind of nauseous. 

Also, the fact his salary had increased, to a stupid amount of money, meant he never had to worry about being able to afford anything. Laura had been insistent that they earned their own money, that they didn’t spend the insurance money, that they leave that for emergencies, for rebuilding their pack, for making sure they had a future. Except Laura was dead and Derek was alone, well, apart from Stiles, who always seemed to be keeping an eye on him for one reason or another and Derek wasn’t sure what to think, he knew he couldn’t trust him, couldn’t trust anyone, except, Stiles had confessed personal, private things to him and Derek knew he hadn’t been lying, still, he couldn’t trust that it wasn’t some way to try and trick him into letting Stiles in, to trust him, only for Stiles to betray him at a later date.

He’d never intended to stay in Beacon Hills, so he hadn’t really put down any roots, except, now Kate was dead, and he was the Alpha and it made sense that maybe he did start putting down some roots, that he built a new pack, that he solidified his position as Alpha. He’d started by moving out of the Hale house, renting out an old railway station, settling in there while he submitted plans to rebuild the house, it would take time, but, once the plans were approved, he planned to rip the remains of the house down and start afresh, a fresh start. Of course, Derek should have known it could never happen that way. 

He'd bitten four teenagers that were in Stiles’ year at school, okay, really, he’d wanted to bite Stiles, to turn him, to have him by his side, but, he didn’t know how to broach that subject, especially because it would show weakness, it would show Stiles that he cared about him, that he wanted him around, and he couldn’t do that, not if he wanted to keep himself safe. Instead, he’d bitten; Erica Reyes - a young woman with epilepsy who most likely would have eventually died without the bite -Isaac Lahey – a boy who was being beaten by his father and who was terrified of his own shadow – Vernon Boyd – a boy so alone that Derek could smell the loneliness pouring off him from two hundred feet away – and Jackson Whittemore - a boy who had discovered werewolves when Scott had lost his shit one too many times and Stiles hadn’t been able to steer Jackson away in time. 

At the time Derek had been relieved when the bite didn’t seem to take with Jackson, he’d never heard of it happening before, but, Lydia Martin, another girl in Stiles’ year, had been bitten by Peter and the bite hadn’t turned her either, so Derek had believed that it was fine, and, really, he didn’t like Jackson, didn’t like the way he spoke to Stiles, like he was nothing, like he hadn’t saved all their lives at least once. He wanted Stiles to be at his side a hell of a lot more than he wanted Jackson, so he had no issues with the fact that the bite hadn’t taken, it made his life a lot easier.

Gerard Argent, Kate’s father and Allison’s grandfather, had turned up making trouble and things only seemed to go from bad to worse, he was hunting any werewolf he could find so they had to do their best to stay in control, which was really fucking hard to do with fresh bitten wolves, thankfully, Stiles was around a lot, considering Scott was spending all his time with Allison, and he helped them find their anchors to humanity, keeping them human, helping them to keep control. Derek couldn’t believe how grateful he was to Stiles, he couldn’t admit that though, admitting it meant showing Stiles weakness and he couldn’t do it, he just couldn’t. Making himself vulnerable like that, it would only result in him getting hurt, he knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Then the Kanima made its appearance, able to paralyze people with just a drop of its venom, and had been killing people regularly, Derek was convinced it had to be Jackson or Lydia, Stiles had argued with him until he was blue in the face that there were better ways to do things that testing it out in the middle of class, but Derek hadn’t listened to him and it was the first time he found himself on the opposite side of things to Stiles. Needless to say, it didn’t work, Stiles was angry at him but just relieved that Lydia was okay, Derek wasn’t going to admit that he had no qualms over killing the girl because Stiles was apparently in love with her and Derek thought Stiles could do a damn sight better than somebody who didn’t even know his name, never mind the fact she couldn’t see how amazing he was. 

Even though Stiles had been mad at him, even though Derek had threatened him with violence, Stiles had still saved his life when the Kanima struck, paralyzing him and letting him fall into the school pool. Stiles could have made a run for it, he could have been fine, instead he’d dived in after Derek and held him afloat for two hours until, finally, when Stiles was on the verge of drowning from exhaustion, Scott arrived and pulled them out. 

Derek wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to thank Stiles enough, but he couldn’t say it, he just, he didn’t know how to open up anymore, he’d closed himself off for so long that even attempting to open up felt impossible, but, god, he was so grateful. Stiles seemed to realise that Derek was sorry, even if he didn’t say it, and they began working as a team again, protecting Scott, Erica, Boyd and Isaac from Gerard and his goons as best they could, even when it resulted in the Sheriff being suspended because Stiles had kidnapped Jackson and locked him in a police van. 

Stiles couldn’t exactly explain that it had been because Jackson was the Kanima and he was being controlled by somebody else who was forcing him to kill people, especially since Jackson himself didn’t seem to realise. Derek watched as Noah and Stiles’ relationship began to crumble and he knew what a toll it was taking on Stiles, he wasn’t going to tell anyone that sometimes he just sat outside Stiles’ window at night, just to check that he was indeed sleeping and recovering from whatever adventures they’d had that day. 

He’d heard Scott argue with Stiles that he should tell his dad what was going on, the truth about what they were dealing with. By this point Scott’s mom was in the know and to say she wasn’t handling it brilliantly was an understatement, she’d found out when Scott had been shot by Matt, the boy controlling Jackson, and Scott had healed from the wound. Matt had then been drowned by Gerard so Derek was now freaking out over the fact that Gerard Argent had control over a Kanima that could paralyze them all with a single touch. 

Stiles had argued back with Scott, telling him repeatedly that his dad knowing would put him in danger and Stiles couldn’t lose his dad, he’d rather that they barely spoke but at least his dad was alive and breathing. Derek wanted to tell him it was stupid, that Noah would prefer to be close to Stiles than be safe, but, having lost his entire family, Derek didn’t feel like he had any right to say anything. If he thought about it, he would rather have his family alive, even if they never spoke to him again, he’d trade anything to know that they were alive and happy and safe, even if it meant he never got to hug his mom or dad or any of his family again. He understood what Stiles was feeling, but he still didn’t necessarily agree that it was the right thing to do, not that he was going to argue with Stiles about it. Not when they were only just back to being friends, or whatever the hell they were, again.

Erica and Boyd had arrived at the railway station explaining that they’d heard the howls of another wolf pack, that they wanted to go with them, spend time with an Alpha who had more experience. Derek knew it was because they were scared and he couldn’t blame them, he was scared too, but, this was his family’s territory and it was time to stand up for it, maybe he still didn’t care if he died, it wasn’t like there was anybody who would miss him, but, he wasn’t about to let the Argents have this territory if he could help it. He was going to fight for it. 

He knew that meant he’d have to fight Allison too, she’d found out that Scott was a werewolf and she’d actually been okay with it, but then her mom had found out and she’d tried to kill Scott and Derek had had to get Stiles to break the mountain ash barrier that he’d just created in order to go into the club and save his pack and Scott. He wouldn’t forget how proud Stiles had smelled of himself in that moment, that he’d managed to break a magical barrier without touching it, Derek had decided it was something to discuss later, once everyone was safe. 

He’d managed to save Scott’s life, but in the process, he’d bitten Allison’s mom, it wasn’t a death sentence, she would have survived the change, but she refused to become one of the monsters they hunted and so she killed herself. Allison had sided with Gerard, that all werewolves were monsters and they needed to be killed, Derek wanted to believe it was grief, that they would be able to talk some sense into her if they could just explain, but he also doubted Allison would give him a chance to explain, which meant that if it came to a fight, she would be on the hunters side. 

Derek had been heading to the school to watch the lacrosse match when Lydia kidnapped him. He’d known Stiles was playing and he’d wanted to watch, okay, so were Isaac, Scott and Jackson, so there was a definite threat of something bad happening, but he’d really wanted to see Stiles play. He never made it there. 

Lydia had seemed fine after receiving the bite from Peter, but it hadn’t taken long before she started acting weird, Derek figured that he should have kept a closer eye on her, especially when she drugged him and then used him to resurrect Peter. Derek had stared at his uncle, unable to believe his eyes, he didn’t understand how Peter was alive again, and he was convinced that Peter was going to kill him while Derek was still recovering from the drug Lydia had given him, take back the Alpha powers that Derek had taken from him, but he didn’t. Instead Peter apologised, sobbed to Derek about how sorry he was, that he’d never wanted to kill Laura, that he couldn’t believe he’d done it, just like he’d never wanted to bite Scott or Lydia, or kill any of the people he had done, well, apart from Kate, and of course he’d never wanted to kidnap Stiles. 

“What!?” Derek growled, getting to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily, but, still, Peter had kidnapped Stiles!? When!? 

“I mean, I thought you knew?” Peter said sounding worried even as Lydia got to her feet and looked at the two of them like they were insane, Derek knew he was going to have to fill her in on the supernatural world, there was no hiding it from her now. 

“When did you kidnap him? Did you hurt him?” Derek asked, his vision taking on the red of his wolf that meant his wolf was close to taking over and Peter gulped nervously.

“The night I bit Miss Martin, he ran to help her, I told him I was going to kill her, he convinced me not to, that I didn’t need to, that he’d help me with whatever I wanted if I let her live. So, I did. I even let him call the ambulance, and then I got him to help me track Scott’s phone and when he tried to outsmart me, I may have hurt him, a little bit, but he was fine, I swear.” Peter paused, “I thought he would have told you.” He muttered quietly. 

“Yeah, well, he obviously didn’t.” Derek growled in annoyance, why the hell had Stiles kept this from him? He opened his mouth to speak, to tell Peter he needed to apologize or something when Lydia looked down at her phone and let out a gasp of horror and grief. “What?” Derek growled. 

“Jackson’s dead.” She muttered sounding heartbroken and Derek wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know how. He managed to get the story out of Scott eventually, that Jackson had killed himself on the pitch, that Stiles had run off because he was scared, and that Scott had ordered his mom out of town in order to make sure Gerard didn’t go after her. Peter had been the one to suggest that perhaps Jackson wasn’t really dead, going to the stairs and pulling out a blackened box before opening up a laptop. 

Lydia, Derek and Peter stared at the open screen on the laptop in horror, unable to believe that Jackson was in the process of evolving into an Alpha Kanima and that if they didn’t find a way to stop him then all hell was going to break loose. Derek called Scott back, telling him he needed to get to Jackson’s body, get it out of the hospital, Scott hadn’t exactly been happy about it and it wasn’t like Derek and Scott had the best relationship, Derek thought Scott was too relaxed about his secret, and Scott thought that Derek had no idea what he was doing, but both of them realised they needed to put aside their issues to save Jackson and everybody else. 

Which was how he’d ended up in the warehouse, looking around in disbelief. Scott had been working with Gerard, coming up with a plan to paralyze Derek and then force him to give Gerard the bite. Derek should have seen the betrayal coming, he should have realised that he could never trust anybody, regardless of the fact Scott had only done it to keep Allison safe. The fact Gerard had been willing to kill his own granddaughter hadn’t sat well with Allison or her father, Chris, and they’d switched sides, firmly standing next to Peter, Derek, Isaac, Lydia and Scott. It was odd, but Derek wasn’t going to question it. Thankfully, Scott had betrayed Gerard too, spiking the pills he’d been taking with mountain ash, so that although the bite took, it also didn’t, so Gerard may have had some of the enhancements that werewolves received, but, he would never be able to be a complete werewolf and that was a good thing in Derek’s book.

Lydia had called out Jackson’s name, begging him to remember her, and they’d all watched with morbid fascination as the Kanima began to change until, slowly, the scales of the lizard faded away and Jackson was revealed. Derek moved forward instantly, sinking his claws into Jackson in a vain attempt to convert him into the werewolf he was supposed to be, somehow, miraculously, it worked, but, in the meantime, Gerard had escaped and Derek was livid. 

“I’m sorry Derek, I had to try and protect Allison.” Scott muttered and Derek glared at him.

“You could have gotten us all killed.” He snarled as he moved to Isaac, pulling out the knives that Allison had shoved in to him during the fight. 

“I’m okay.” Isaac muttered and Derek nodded angrily, yes, Isaac was okay, but he could have so easily not been. 

“You didn’t even think about us, so long as your mom was out of town and safe and Allison was protected, you didn’t even think about us. We’re werewolves Scott, and the Argents were trying to kill ALL of us. Do you honestly think if you’re plan hadn’t worked that Gerard would have spared you!? Now he’s out there somewhere, alive, probably already planning on a new way to kill us. You should have never worked with him.” Derek snapped.

“It was a mistake. But. The plan worked. Surely that’s what matters?” Scott said and Derek wanted to punch him so badly, he took a steadying breath, trying to rein in his anger, trying to convince himself that punching Scott wasn’t going to help anything. 

“We’re all alive. That’s what matters.” Lydia said before turning to Peter, “Now, I want to know more about what you did to me, how I was able to bring you back to life and whatever else you haven’t been telling any of us. I assume you have some sort of den or something?” She said looking to Derek who actually blushed under her gaze.

“We have the railway station.” Isaac piped up innocently and Derek groaned. 

“That’s not going to do at all. We need a proper pack den, right?” Lydia pressed and Derek nodded. 

“I was, um, planning to redo the Hale house.” He muttered, ignoring the astonished look on Peter’s face. 

“Great, until then, we need a base of operations.” Lydia said taking charge. 

“You’ll need to let Erica and Boyd know where to find you once they come back.” Chris interrupted and Derek turned to stare at him like he’d gone insane. 

“There was no other pack.” Allison said, staring at the floor in shame, “We lured them in, captured them, Gerard tied them up in the basement, tortured them for information.” Derek snarled, his wolf howling angrily that they rip and tear Allison apart for this, “I’m sorry. I thought it was the right thing to do. I can see now that I was wrong. I’m so sorry.” She said, tears filling her eyes. 

“I released them before we came here. They should be back in an hour or so.” Chris said, “You should make sure they have some way to find you.” He looked to Allison and put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m going to take Allison with me, we’re going to leave town for a few weeks, but we will be back, I’d like it to be under friendlier terms than we have been previously?”

“Your family murdered our entire family. There were innocent people in our home and your sister burned it to the ground.” Peter growled, “How could we ever be civilised with you?” 

“Because I’m not my sister.” Chris replied, looking to Derek directly, “And, we’ve all made mistakes, I’m asking permission from the Alpha of Beacon Hills to stay in his territory, I’ll even give up hunting, revoke any rights to the Argent name. I just want to make a home for my daughter.” 

“Fine.” Derek said eventually even as Peter looked at him incredulously, “But, if I ever even get a hint of betrayal, I will rip your throat out myself, are we clear?” 

“Crystal.” Chris replied before leaving the warehouse with Allison still sobbing quietly at his side. 

Derek had wanted to go out and look for Erica and Boyd immediately, but Lydia was glaring at him and Jackson still looked confused and Isaac was hovering nervously and it was clear that, right now, his pack, no matter how ragtag it was, needed him more. Erica and Boyd had left. He needed to look after those that had chosen to stay. 

Lydia had insisted that they go to a proper hotel so they could all sit and talk and make it their home base until Derek found somewhere better for them to stay, she was already looking at listings in the area even as Jackson drove them out to the nearest hotel and Derek followed with Peter, Isaac and even Scott in his car. He didn’t feel good about that, not knowing that Scott had been willing to risk the lives of his pack just to protect Allison, but, Scott was a werewolf and if Derek was going to be the Alpha in Beacon Hills then he needed to take responsibility for any wolves in the area, no matter what. 

Lydia seemed to fill the role of second in the pack without Derek even realising it, she delegated the jobs making sure everybody had food and was cleaned up properly before forcing Peter to tell them everything he knew. 

“Your grandmother was a banshee, I knew her, back before the fire, I took the chance that, should things go wrong for me, that you had inherited her powers, that you’d be able to connect to the other side, that I’d be able to invade your mind and force you to perform the spell. In all fairness, I was insane at the time, the fire did something to me, and when I woke from my coma, I didn’t even recognise Laura, killing her made me the Alpha and it cleared some of the fog, but, all I could think about was revenge, killing those responsible for the deaths of my family. Once I died, and came back, those thoughts seem to have vanished completely, I still feel a lot of anger, but not like my wolf is going to take over and murder anybody who was even remotely involved.” Peter explained. 

“But you said you were going to kill me?” Lydia pressed from where she was sat next to Jackson on the sofa, “I mean, you said the night you bit me, that Stiles had begged you not to kill me, that he’d help you if it meant you left me alone, and you let him call an ambulance.” 

“What? No. Stiles didn’t even know you’d been bitten until hours later, and then he practically ran to the hospital, he even left his jeep at the school.” Scott said dismissively. 

“That’s because I didn’t let him go near the school. I kidnapped him, got him to help me track you down, and, once he’d realised he couldn’t trick me, he tried to escape, I roughed him up a little and then I realised he wasn’t going to help me find you, even if I killed him, even if I turned him, which, I tried to do, but, Stiles is smarter than I thought…”

“You tried to bite him!?” Derek shouted outraged and Peter shrugged. 

“Like I said, he outsmarted me. Anyway, I let him go and then he ran to the hospital to check that I hadn’t gone back on my word and killed Lydia and then, well, you guys killed me.” Peter replied. 

“What the fuck are you on about!? You didn’t kidnap Stiles! He would have told me about that.” Scott said and Peter rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, sure, he tells you everything I’m sure.” Peter said while Scott just glared at him. “Look, I was never planning on killing you, just biting you, in the hopes you’d inherited your grandmother’s genes. Maybe I didn’t tell Stiles that, maybe I implied that I’d been about to kill you, but, either way, does it matter? I wasn’t in my right mind and I’m sorry. Whenever Stiles makes an appearance, I’ll apologise to him too if it makes you feel any better.” 

“Where is he now?” Lydia asked and Scott shrugged. 

“He freaked out when Jackson died, he ran off, I was going to go find him but then the whole ‘Jackson isn’t actually dead’ thing happened. I’ll give him a call later, check he’s okay, he’s probably just embarrassed that he panicked or whatever.” Scott said dismissively, Derek was surprised, it didn’t exactly sound like Stiles, he tended to run towards danger, not away from it, especially not if his friends were involved, but, if Scott had seen him running off then Derek wasn’t going to disagree with him, after all, how well did he really know Stiles? Not much, not really, and nowhere near as much as he wanted to.

They spent the next few hours discussing what being a banshee meant until Scott eventually left in the early hours, saying he’d call Stiles later in the day and check on him, Lydia seemed to be taking it all in her stride which was better than Derek could have expected and he could kind of understand why Stiles was in awe of her. Within two days she’d found them a reasonably priced loft, furnished it and made sure Isaac, Peter and Derek each had a room, along with spare rooms for when she and Jackson felt like staying over, as well as a room for Erica, Boyd and even Scott if he felt like it, even if Derek wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He was secretly glad to be in the loft and not the railway station though, they had two days of heavy rain that would have definitely leaked through the cracked roof and they all would have been soaked, he wasn’t sure how to say thank you to Lydia considering she had been the driving force behind them getting the loft. 

“I would have thought Erica and Boyd would be back by now.” Lydia said and Derek shrugged uncomfortably. 

“They might not be coming back. Just because Chris let them out of the basement, it doesn’t mean they’ll be coming back to Beacon Hills. They weren’t happy with me as their Alpha. I don’t see how that will have changed.” He said quietly and Lydia frowned at him before sighing and getting up, heading into the kitchen. 

“You just lack experience; your heart is in the right place.” Lydia commented and Derek found himself quietly surprised by it, looking down at his book and refusing to meet her gaze. 

It was another twenty-four hours before there was a tentative knock on the door and Derek moved towards it, already able to sense his betas behind the door, while Lydia, Jackson, Peter and Isaac were waiting and watching patiently from the sofas. He opened the door, studying Erica and Boyd for a moment before opening it fully and allowing them entrance into his den. They looked like they’d had a rough few days, their clothes were still stained with blood and dirt, they looked like they’d barely slept, they looked exhausted and terrified and Derek felt guilt flood through him instantly, he should have been out there looking for them. 

“Are you guys okay?” Isaac asked and Erica and Boyd both nodded silently, looking around the loft as if expecting to see someone else there. 

“Chris told us he let you go days ago, where have you been?” Lydia queried and Erica shrugged. 

“Here and there.” She muttered, “Where’s Stiles?” 

“Not here. You’re avoiding the question.” Jackson replied.

“Erica, Boyd, sit down, we’ll make you something to eat, you look hungry.” Peter said and Erica shook her head. 

“We need to see Stiles, check he’s okay.” 

“He’s fine.” Lydia said dismissively, “We need to know where you’ve been, then you can go see Stiles.” They glanced at each other and then to Derek before nodding. 

“We’re sorry we left, we were scared and we ran. We shouldn’t have done. Please will you take us back?” Erica said and Derek stared at her in surprise for a moment, he’d never expected to see them again, never mind for them to apologize for leaving in the first place. 

“Of course, you’re my betas, you’re always welcome in my pack.” Derek replied. 

“Please then, we’ll tell you where we’ve been, but we really need to see Stiles, please?” Erica practically pleaded. 

“You know where he lives, you could have seen him before coming here?” Peter said and Erica and Boyd both stared at him in shock. 

“He’s not there. We already went there. He’s not there. Where is he? Did something happen? Did Gerard hurt him? What happened to him? Where is he?” Erica said sounding terrified. 

“What are you talking about? Stiles is at home, he’s fine. Scott said he’d check up on him after him freaking out on the lacrosse pitch and running off, he’d have told us if there was anything wrong.” Isaac said in reassurance but this only seemed to panic Erica and Boyd even further, Derek was already pulling out his phone and calling Stiles, and, when it went to voicemail, he called Scott. 

“Lo?” Scott said, sounding like he’d only just woken from his sleep. 

“Did you speak to Stiles?” Derek asked without preamble. 

“Nah, I called him a few times, left him a voicemail, he hasn’t called me back yet.” Scott replied, not sounding in the least bit worried. 

“Gerard did something to him, I know he did. He said he was going to let him go, but I know he did something worse, I know it.” Erica rambled and Derek stared at her. 

“What do you mean? Did Gerard have Stiles too?” He said, his heart starting to race, Erica and Boyd both nodded and Derek felt sick to his stomach, “Scott, you saw Stiles? You saw him run away? Run off the pitch?” 

“Um,” Scott sounded worried now and rightly so, “Well, the lights went out, so, I guess I didn’t see him, but he was there, then the lights went off and Jackson was dead and when they came back on Stiles was gone. It was obvious he just panicked and ran off.” 

“No, no, Gerard had some guys grab him, he was down in the basement with us, they tortured him, Gerard said he’d let him go, because he was human, but they never came back and then Chris let us go but I don’t know what Gerard did with Stiles but he’s not at his house and I don’t know where he is and we need to see him, we need to make sure he’s okay, we need him, he protected us, he saved us, even when they hurt him, he’s ours, we need him to be alive, to be safe.” Erica said, tears filling her eyes and Derek felt like he couldn’t breathe, god, what had happened to Stiles? Where was he? Why hadn’t Derek gone to check on him? He knew it was unlike Stiles to run away but he’d taken Scott’s word for it and now Stiles could be dead and it was all his fault. 

“I’ll meet you at the house.” Scott said sounding panicked before the phone cut off, Derek didn’t waste any time, sprinting from the loft, not caring if the rest of his pack were right behind him or not, all he cared about was finding Stiles, on finding him alive. He drove like a maniac to the Stilinski household, the house was dark and empty, it was obvious nobody was home, but it didn’t stop him climbing the tree near Stiles’ window and swinging quickly onto the roof, flicking open the window catch and slipping into Stiles’ silent room. 

“How many times have you done that?” Isaac asked with something like awe in his voice from the ground below and Derek was glad they couldn’t see him when his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He ignored Isaac’s question, it wasn’t like he could admit that he’d climbed up this tree a hundred times, that sometimes he would enter the house and talk to Stiles but other times he would sit in the tree and listen to Stiles as he moved around the house. His favourite times were when Stiles was awake in the middle of the night and alone in the house, it usually resulted in him either reading what seemed like eight different books at once, or doing a thorough clean of the house, either way, Stiles would turn the radio on and sing along to which ever song was on the radio. Derek loved those moments, Stiles had an incredible voice, Derek could close his eyes and get lost listening to Stiles sing to himself, Derek knew he could just about hold a tune, but there was no way in hell he’d ever sound as good as Stiles. Derek was certain that if Stiles chose to, he could make a career of it. 

He moved through the house urgently, desperate to see Stiles, to hear him, to smell him, to get any kind of sense that Stiles had been here. Nothing smelled out of the ordinary, other than the fact Stiles wasn’t here, by the time he reached the kitchen it was obvious to him that Stiles hadn’t been home since the night of the lacrosse game, but, even more worryingly, apparently neither had the sheriff.

“He’s not here.” Derek growled as he opened the front door to the rest of the pack and Scott who was looking like his entire world had crumbled. 

“We should send out search parties or something. He’s probably lost in the preserve.” Scott said optimistically. 

“If he’s out there he’s in bigger trouble.” Boyd muttered and they all looked to him for further explanation. “When we were escaping from the Argents, we ran into an Alpha pack, they tried to kidnap us, imprison us, we managed to escape but barely and then we hid until the rain had washed our scent away completely. If Stiles was out in the preserve, he was injured, hurt, bleeding, they’d be able to track him easily, and, he’d smell like us still, that he’s pack, so, then, maybe, maybe they’ve found him.” Derek was going to be sick, he couldn’t bare this, the thought of Stiles alone, hurt, being tortured by Gerard while protecting his pack, being left out in the preserve to die, being held against his will by an entire pack of Alpha’s, god, he needed to find him, he needed to know he was okay. 

“Hey! Get away from there!” Somebody shouted from across the street and Derek turned to look at an elderly woman approaching, a cane in her hand, half raised as if to bat them away, “Sheriff’s not even dead yet and you lot are looking at breaking into his house, damn kids!” 

“Mrs Archer! It’s me! Scott McCall.” Scott said and Mrs Archer relaxed instantly. 

“Oh, little Scott McCall, sorry, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.” She apologised. 

“It’s fine. Look, what do you mean the sheriff’s not even dead yet? Did something happen to him? Is he okay? Did you see Stiles?” 

“Do you not know? I thought your mom worked down at the hospital?” 

“She’s out of town, due back in the morning. What’s happened? Please? Is he okay?” 

“No. I’m sorry. I thought someone would have told you by now.”

“What happened to Stiles? Is he alright?” Derek growled, trying not to lose his temper, but he needed to know where Stiles was, he needed to know he was okay. 

“Stiles? No, the sheriff. He was shot, right here in his front yard.”

“What!? When!? Is he alright?” Scott shouted. 

“What about Stiles!?” Derek snapped and Mrs Archer looked at him appraisingly. 

“As far as I know, Stiles is fine. I heard that he wasn’t even here, his dad was in the yard, talking on the phone or something, a criminal that the sheriff had been after for a while appeared, he shot Noah, Noah shot back and killed him. Stiles is probably down at the hospital with him, I hear it’s not good news, they don’t expect him to wake up.” Mrs Archer informed them and Derek felt his heart sink, poor Stiles, losing his dad now, after everything that had happened between them, all the arguments and the lies, he needed to be there to support Stiles however he could. 

“Thanks!” Scott called, already running towards the cars and throwing himself into the back seat of Derek’s, “Let’s go!” He shouted and Derek and the rest of the pack raced after him. 

When they got to the hospital Derek sprinted to the front desk, already catching sight of the two deputies stood outside of a door and moving towards them without asking at the main desk for Sheriff Stilinski. 

“Is this the sheriff’s room?” He asked one of the deputies and they looked to each other and then Derek before pointing him back towards the reception desk, “Look, I just, I need to speak to Stiles, is he in there?” 

“You’ll need to speak to the main desk.” The first deputy said. 

“I’m a friend of Stiles’, please, I only just heard, I just need to know if he’s okay?” 

“You’ll need to speak to the main desk.” The man repeated and Derek fought the urge to punch him, instead, he spun on his heel, walking back towards the main desk already trying to pick out Stiles’ heartbeat in the room behind him and cursing when he couldn’t, it didn’t mean anything though, it could be that Derek just couldn’t hear it because the hospital was busy, not because Stiles wasn’t in there, it didn’t mean that.

“Hey Megan, we’re here to see the Sheriff and Stiles.” Scott said, smiling politely and Derek thanked god that Melissa worked at the hospital and Scott visited her occasionally. 

“Sorry Scott, I can’t let you in at the moment.” Megan replied sadly and Scott sighed. 

“Can you…can you just tell me how he’s doing? How Stiles is doing?” Scott pleaded and Megan looked around nervously before clicking onto the screen in front of her and reading through the notes there. 

“The bullet struck him in the chest, it hit his artery and lodged in there, the doctors are suggesting it must have been shot from a fair distance to not pass straight through him, or perhaps hit something else first considering his attacker was found dead only a few feet away, but, for whatever reason, it lodged in his artery, he should have bled out, he should have died. But he was still alive when they got to him.” She paused looking troubled, “He went into cardiac arrest on the operating table. He was without oxygen for several minutes and, although they restarted his heart,” She looked at them apologetically, “It looks like they’ve run brain scans, they show that…they show that he’s brain dead. His heart is beating but, he won’t wake up. Once a significant period has passed, if there’s no sign of improvement, we’ll discuss with Stiles, his last remaining member of family, about switching off the life support, letting him move on, be at peace.” Megan said and Derek gripped the counter for support, god, Stiles had as good as lost his dad, he was going to lose his dad, how was he going to survive it? 

“What about Stiles?” Derek asked and Megan scrolled through the screen for a few more minutes before she pursed her lips. 

“Stiles’ aunt took him out of town, she left a number for us to get in touch if Noah wakes up, but, from the notes on here, Stiles is with her.” Megan shrugged, “I don’t remember seeing her, but, maybe somebody else made the note when I wasn’t on shift.” 

“Can we have her number? Please? We need to speak to Stiles.” Erica said, Megan looked at her, took in the dirt and blood on her clothes, the exhaustion on her face, and she must have felt some pity for her because she scribbled the number down and passed it to Scott conspiratorially. 

“If anyone asks…”

“I didn’t get it from you.” Scott replied, already pulling out his phone and calling the number, it went to an automated voicemail and Scott cursed, “Um, hi, you probably don’t know me, but maybe Stiles has mentioned me? My name is Scott McCall, I’m his best friend. I just heard about his dad. I wanted to speak to him, could you ask him to call me as soon as possible please? I really need to talk to him. Thanks.” He said before hanging up. 

“I didn’t know he had an aunt.” Erica said and Scott shrugged. 

“He’s always been kind of private about his dad’s family, I don’t think Noah got on with a lot of them, but, erm, I think I maybe sort of remember him mentioning an aunt vaguely once, maybe, I’m not sure.” Scott replied, glancing again at the closed door before moving towards the exit. 

They sat in silence in the loft, trying to process everything they had learned, all of them waiting patiently for Stiles to call Scott, to let him know that he was okay despite the fact his dad was dying. Derek toyed with the idea of sneaking into the hospital, of giving Noah the bite, but he wasn’t sure, if Noah died, if the bite killed him before Stiles got a chance to say goodbye, would Stiles hate him forever? But, if he survived, if he turned, then Stiles would have no reason to keep secrets from him any longer, they could go back to having a healthy relationship as father and son. 

He went over the argument in his head, over and over, he kept going in circles, he knew how much Stiles blamed himself for his mother’s death, if Noah died because of something Derek did, would Stiles blame him for the rest of his life? Could Derek deal with that? Deal with Stiles hating him forever? He was a coward. He couldn’t do it. If Stiles asked him to then he’d do it, without hesitation, but he couldn’t do it without his permission, he just couldn’t. 

“How do you think he’s holding up?” Jackson asked and Scott looked at him in surprise. 

“Why do you care?” Scott said, “You don’t even like him.” 

“Just because I don’t think the sun shines out of his ass, it doesn’t mean I’m celebrating over the fact his mom is already dead and now his dad is going to die.” Jackson snapped.

“We don’t know he is definitely going to die.” Erica muttered. 

“He’s brain dead, you heard her, he’s as good as dead, they’re just waiting for Stiles to say they can turn the machines off.” Lydia replied.

“Stiles isn’t going to let them turn the machines off! He’s not going to let them kill his dad! Why do you think he’s run out of town!?” Scott shouted. 

“Well maybe if you’d bothered to do more than leave a few half-arsed voicemails he wouldn’t have left!” Isaac replied. 

“How the hell was I supposed to know his dad was shot!? It’s not like mom was at the hospital to let me know!” 

“So you don’t even bother to call him when he hadn’t called you back in three days!?” Lydia argued, “You said you’d check on him, your mom isn’t around, Allison has left, you couldn’t pop over there on your bike and check on him?” 

“I was busy!” 

“Busier than checking on your best friend!?” Peter said. 

“Don’t you pretend like you give a shit! You kidnapped him and hurt him!” Isaac shouted. 

“I said I was sorry!” Peter replied in exasperation. Their argument was interrupted by the ping of Scott’s phone with an incoming message and Derek snatched it up. “What does it say?”

“’I got your message. I’m fine. I’m staying with my aunt Sofia for the foreseeable. Please don’t contact me again.’” Derek read, feeling sick to his stomach as he passed the phone back to Scott who looked thunderstruck. 

“It’s fine, I’ll just call him again, he’s going to have to speak to me eventually.” He said, redialling Sofia’s number and getting her voicemail again, “It’s Scott again, look, I know Stiles said not to get in touch, but, I’m his best friend, I know he needs me right now and I want to be there for him, he just needs to talk to me and, I’m not taking no for an answer, until he gives me a reason why he wants to throw away our friendship, I’m going to keep calling and leaving him messages and he’s going to have to speak to me eventually. Please, just, get him to call me. Thanks.” 

“You shouldn’t have threatened him. You know he’ll dig his heels in.” Derek muttered and Scott glared at him but didn’t say anything. They waited impatiently until, almost an hour later, they got another text and this time Scott picked up the phone, all the colour draining from his face. 

“What is it?” Erica whispered. 

“What did Gerard do to him?” Scott said sounding horrified. 

“What do you mean?” Boyd said and Scott flipped the phone, allowing them all to see the picture Stiles had sent, his stomach was covered in cuts and bruises, there was more damaged skin than undamaged and Derek wanted to murder the man responsible. 

“We told you, he tortured him.” Erica replied and Scott winced when the phone dinged with another message. 

“Stiles says, ‘I’m your best friend and you left me to be tortured by Gerard. I’m your best friend and you didn’t even look for me. I’m your best friend and you didn’t even notice I was missing. You call yourself my best friend and it took you three days before you bothered to check on me. I got wrapped up in this world and I’m not cut out for it Scott. I don’t heal like you. You can see that. I’m out. I’m done. Don’t contact me again.’ He’s serious, he called me Scott, not Scotty, he only does that when he’s really pissed off, I mean, it’s not as bad as when he just calls me McCall, but that only happened once and god….He’s serious. He’s done.” 

“We should go see him or something, do you know where this Sofia lives?” Derek said and Scott shrugged, looking on the verge of tears. 

“I don’t even remember meeting her, but maybe we can try and track her down or something?” 

“Did you even read his text Scott? Look what Gerard to him! He’s hurt and he wants out! You can’t drag him back into this if he doesn’t want to. Especially with this Alpha pack lurking around.” Isaac argued. 

“He’s right.” Lydia said, “I know I’m pretty new to this whole thing, but Stiles doesn’t want to be involved any longer, do you want to drag him back here by force?” 

“We can’t lose him, we need him around.” Erica whined, “Derek, he saved our lives, he kept the focus on him, even when he knew Gerard was going to hurt him. He protected us Derek, he saved us, we need him, please.” Derek looked at his pack, Erica and Boyd seemed to have really bonded with Stiles in the basement and he understood how easy that was, Stiles was easy to be around and when you had his loyalty there was no breaking it, if Stiles had decided he wanted out then it must have been serious and Derek knew that he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go against what Stiles wanted. 

“Erica, Boyd, I know what Stiles did for you, that he saved your lives, and I know how much that must mean to you, I know how much it means to me, but, Stiles has asked to be left out of this, and, after everything he’s done for us,” Derek looked around at the pack, “What he’s done for ALL of us, we can’t go against his wishes. We have to do this for him.” There was silence as the pack processed his words, and they all allowed it to sink in, if this was what Stiles wanted then they had to listen to him, just this once, they had to do what he wanted. Derek could only hope that once Stiles healed, he would choose to return to them. 

It was a few weeks after that night when he drove past the Sheriff’s house, seeing it was up for sale and Stiles’ jeep was still parked in the driveway, he parked his car at the curb and headed to the jeep, he didn’t know what was going on with the house, if it was Stiles deciding to sell the house and move on or if it was something else completely. All Derek knew for certain was that he couldn’t allow Stiles’ jeep to waste away on the drive. He took it to a nearby garage, talked the owner into doing a complete rebuild to make sure it would run smoothly when Stiles came back and then storing it in his garage until Derek came to collect it. He couldn’t specify a date, he didn’t know how long Stiles would be gone and he couldn’t bear to be faced with the constant reminder of Stiles leaving them, instead they agreed a monthly price and Derek would let him know when he wanted it, it was the best he could do in the circumstances.

Allison and Chris returned to Beacon Hills nearly six weeks after they had left, they’d kept them out of the loop while they were away, and Allison was furious when she found out what had been happening in her absence. Chris had apologised profusely for his father’s actions and swore to do his best to track him down and make him pay for what he had done to Stiles, Derek had told him not to. Chris was out of the hunting life and Stiles wouldn’t want him to dive back in to it all in an attempt to take vengeance on Gerard. Of course, killing Gerard was something that Derek was desperate to achieve, but he was doing his best to focus on the good in his life rather than the negative. He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to completely trust Allison and Chris, but he would try. He had to do better than he had been doing. He had to do better so that Stiles would see that he could change, he could learn to trust, to let people in, that Derek could be there for him when he came home. 

As time passed it became obvious that Stiles wasn’t coming back, they all still called Stiles’ phone but it went to voicemail instantly, they all called Sofia and left him voicemails there too, telling him that everything was going okay and how much they missed him, but none of them tried to guilt him into coming home, they wanted him to come home when he was ready, but god they missed him. It was obvious to all of them that Stiles had been the glue, that he cared for all of them, looked after all of them, Jackson really struggled with his anchor and Derek was certain that if Stiles was here he’d be able to help him a damn sight better than Derek could, it didn’t mean he didn’t try his hardest to help Jackson, even when he knew that he would never be as good as Stiles would have been if he was here. 

The Alpha pack were causing all sorts of issues, it had started with trying to kidnap Erica and Boyd when they had just been released from the Argents basement but that was only the beginning. Since then they’d tried to kidnap Isaac, Jackson and even Peter on various occasions, Derek had been kind of tempted to let them have Peter, for a split second, he knew Peter had seen the hesitation in his eyes and he’d deflated slightly, it was enough for Derek to realise that whatever his uncle had been after he had woken from his coma, he wasn’t the same man after returning from the dead. He’d lunged forward, attacking Kali, the woman who had hold of Peter, and the rest of his pack had charged after him, making sure that Kali, Ethan and Aiden – the twin Alphas that were with her – all retreated empty handed and Peter had stared at him gratefully before Derek pulled him into a hug. 

The plans were approved for the Hale house a few weeks later and Derek was torn between starting work immediately and waiting until the threat of the Alpha pack had been dealt with. Lydia was the one who pushed for the house to be built, insisting that the sooner they had a pack house the better, especially since all their own home situations seemed to be falling apart. Jackson’s parents never noticed if he was there or not, Lydia’s mother only took an interest in her when it was something that worked for her, Erica’s and Boyd’s parents had treated both of them poorly since they’d vanished for a few days and it wasn’t like they could explain where they had been. Isaac had no parents to be bothered about him and Derek was in the process of trying to make it official that he was Isaac’s legal guardian, he knew the boy would be turning eighteen in a year but that didn’t matter, Derek wanted Isaac to know that he had a place in Derek’s pack, that he would always have a place with them if he wanted it. Melissa had been furious when Scott had explained what had happened with Gerard, what he’d done to Erica, Boyd and Stiles, she was even more infuriated when she found out that Noah had been shot, Stiles had left town to stay with an aunt and Scott hadn’t known about it for three days despite knowing Stiles had left the pitch. Although she had dealt with it eventually, it was obvious that she was disappointed in Scott’s actions even though he was doing his best to make up for it.

Derek had taken to going to the hospital on an almost daily basis, once it had been confirmed that the man who shot Noah had been working alone and there were no further threats, the deputies were no longer stationed on the door and Derek could go in and see him. He observed the man in the bed in front of him, he looked like he could just be asleep, other than the various wires and tubes that were connected to him, he looked peaceful and Derek felt his heart breaking for Stiles, he should have been there for him, he should have known something was wrong, he should have been able to support him through this, Stiles should have had somebody with him. 

“Hi Derek.” Melissa said from the doorway and Derek startled slightly, he’d been so lost in thought that he’d not heard her approaching. 

“Hi.” He mumbled in reply. 

“How’s our favourite patient today?” Melissa addressed Noah, moving forward to him and checking the charts by the bed, Derek waited in silence, feeling awkward but not knowing what to say under the circumstances, he knew Melissa and Noah had been close, both of them helping to raise each other children’s, but more than just that, they’d been friends, seeing him like this must be hard for her. “Have you decided to give him the bite?” She asked out of the blue and Derek stared at her before frowning. 

“No. I’d like to. But the risk is that it could just as easily kill him. If Stiles wants me to, I will. But, I can’t, not until Stiles has had his chance to say goodbye.” Derek explained stiltedly. 

“And what if Stiles doesn’t come back? If he never comes home? Are you going to let Noah suffer like this? Drag it out?” Melissa said heatedly and Derek looked at her apologetically. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do it. Stiles blames himself for his mom dying, for not giving his dad the chance to say goodbye. How can I do the same thing to him?” Melissa stared at him in astonishment and Derek flushed, “What?” 

“Stiles said that? He said it was his fault his mom died?” Melissa asked and Derek shrugged recalling their conversation from that night. 

“He said her heart had been getting weaker, she’d freaked out every time she saw him, convinced he was trying to kill her, he came to the hospital even though his dad had told him not to, he’d wanted to spend some time with her, and he did, she didn’t know who he was, and then, he said his name, his first name, and she started screaming and shouting at him to get away from her. And then she collapsed. He said it was a massive heart attack. That she died because he came to see her. That his dad lost out on time with her, that they could have had more good days, a proper chance to say goodbye. He said it was his fault.” Derek explained and Melissa put a hand to her mouth, tears filling her eyes as she tried to take a steadying breath. 

“Oh Stiles,” She sighed sadly, sounding heartbroken, “It wasn’t his fault.”

“I know.” Derek agreed. 

“She was dying. She was going to die. We all said it was a miracle she’d hung on as long as she had.”

“I agree.” Derek said while Melissa looked on the verge of a breakdown. 

“She went downhill so quickly, she seemed to remember Stiles long after everything else was gone, and then, god, then she dragged him up to the roof, hit him, tried to throw him off, she was convinced he was trying to kill her, her own kid, and Noah, god, he stopped her, barely, it had been a close thing and Stiles was so upset, she’d broken his arm and he didn’t care, all he cared about was that his mom wasn’t well, and, Noah didn’t trust her with Stiles after that, he wouldn’t let him come anywhere near her, even when Noah was in the room with them, it didn’t stop her. She’d lost it, completely.” Melissa replied and Derek stared at her in horror, Stiles had never mentioned any of that, his mom had tried to kill him, and he’d not mentioned it, not once. “The day she died, Stiles had come to the hospital, I was here, I heard the shouting from nurses, they sounded panicked, frantic, it was so unlike them, I went to see what was going on, Claudia had collapsed in her room and she was unresponsive, a massive heart attack, Stiles was outside the room, he looked like he was going to be sick and there was blood, so much blood. Nobody seemed to know where it was coming from. We all thought it was Claudia’s. That she’d hit her head or something, and then I realised.” Melissa paused, reliving the memory, “Her last act, the thing that caused her heart to give out, had been to stab her child. Stiles hadn’t said anything, wanting to make sure we looked after his mom first. She’d stabbed an artery and he was in the hospital for two weeks before he was well enough to go home. The sad thing, the really awful thing, is that I knew Claudia before, when she was healthy, and, she doted on Stiles, she would have done anything for him, and, god, if she’d had any idea what she was doing, it would have killed her. I sometimes think that it did. That some part of her knew she was hurting Stiles and the heartbreak of it, of not being in control of her own actions, it was the thing that killed her.” 

Derek stood in silence, no idea how to process the information, Stiles had lost his mom when he was seven, Derek had tried to imagine how he would have felt if he’d lost his mom at that age, he thought he’d manage, but the knowledge that Claudia had tried to throw Stiles off the roof, that she’d broken his arm, that she’d stabbed him, all because she was ill, it made him feel sick, and for Stiles to blame himself, for him to think it was his fault, god, Derek felt nauseous. He wished Stiles had told him, but it wasn’t like Derek had ever encouraged their friendship, no, most of the time he’d spoken to Stiles like crap, determined to keep him at arm’s length, except, Stiles had somehow slipped through all of his defences. He hadn’t torn them down or destroyed them, he’d just passed through, without even trying, and Derek? What had he done in return? He’d never helped Stiles, he’d never had his back in the same way that Stiles had had his. He’d not known Gerard had kidnapped him, not known that he’d been tortured, not known his dad had been shot and was going to die, hell, he didn’t even know where in the world Stiles was right now. Stiles deserved so much better than what Derek had shown him. 

“I, um, he never told me any of that.” Derek muttered and Melissa let out a hysterical laugh, fighting back tears.

“He never told his dad or I that he felt that way, that he thought it was his fault. I can’t believe he’s thought that all this time, I should have made sure, I should call him, talk to him.” Melissa said and Derek couldn’t help but be surprised that Stiles had told him something that he hadn’t even told his father, he hadn’t realised it was supposed to be a secret, maybe he should have never said anything to Melissa? “God, is that why he never let us call him by his first name since? The one time Noah tried, he lost it, told us all that his name was Stiles and that he never wanted to be called that name again, god, it is, it has to be, my poor baby, I should have known, I just, god…” Melissa dissolved into sobs and Derek didn’t know what to do, he moved forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and tightening his grip when Melissa rested her head against his chest and sobbed like her heart was shattering into pieces, if Derek kind of felt the same way, well, he wasn’t going to admit it. 

Derek wasn’t sure what the Alpha pack wanted, that was probably the worst thing, if he knew what they wanted then maybe he could work out a way to stop them before they hurt somebody he cared about, but he didn’t know how. They’d been in town three months so far and Derek had no further leads into what they wanted; he couldn’t help but think that if Stiles was here they’d have already figured it out. 

Allison and Chris had taken to spending some time with the pack, not all the time, and Chris did his best not to spend too much time in the loft as he didn’t want his scent to be there until the pack were happy with him being there. It wasn’t a great situation, but they were all trying their best and that was all any of them could ask for. 

His relationship with Scott was tentative at best, but they were both trying. Scott had come to him not long after Stiles had left, apologizing, saying it was his fault, that he’d been so wrapped up in his own life that he hadn’t even thought about Stiles or any of the others, his only priority had been protecting Allison and everything else had become unimportant. He apologized over and over, saying that he’d never bonded with Derek the same way that Stiles had but that didn’t mean he thought Derek was a bad guy, they’d just butted heads and Scott had dug his heels in. 

Derek had apologized in return, saying that he’d been hard on Scott, too hard on him, but it had only been because Derek had been trying to help him, he’d gone the wrong way about it, Stiles had done a much better job than him, but, he had been trying to help. They’d both admitted that they were so wrapped up in arguing with each other that Stiles had been the one to suffer and that they had to put their differences aside, it was the only way that they could move forward. 

They’d become…friends was possibly not the correct term, more like comrades, Scott was considered part of the pack which seemed to make everyone relax the second Derek made it official, and sometimes Scott still argued with him about doing things different ways. Derek did his best to listen to all the different suggestions the pack made, trying to take his time before diving into decisions, trying to think how Stiles would react to whatever choices Derek made, not that he ever told any of the pack that, he didn’t want them to think he was being an idiot, but, thinking about how Stiles would react to any decisions he made, it helped him, calmed him, made him think things through, and, he hoped, he made better decisions because of it. The thought of Stiles returning home, of him looking at Derek with disappointment when he heard all the stupid decisions Derek had made, it encouraged him to try his best, so that Stiles would never be disappointed in him.

Eventually he found out that the Alpha pack were there with the intention of getting Derek to kill all of his own pack and then he would join them. They wanted him to start by killing Cora. He’d stared at her like he’d seen a ghost, and, well, he had done. Cora was dead. She died in the fire. Derek knew that. Except, here she was, right in front of him, his little sister, alive, breathing, her heart beating rapidly, staring at him with the same shock on her features. 

“I’m not going to kill any of my pack.” Derek snarled, his eyes flashing red dangerously as he faced off against Deucalion, the Alpha of the Alpha pack. 

“Well then perhaps I’ll kill your little sister here instead.” He taunted, his claws extended and so close to Cora’s throat that Derek wanted to rip him apart for threatening her, instead he heard Stiles’ voice in his head, telling him to think his way out of this, there was another way, there had to be. If he fought Deucalion he would lose and his pack would be slaughtered, if he didn’t fight him then Cora would be killed instead. No, there had to be a third option. He just needed to think his way out of this. It came to him in an instant, he was not going to be threatened, he needed to do the threatening, ‘it’s what you’re good at’ Stiles’ voice muttered and Derek smirked ferally, Deucalion actually looked a little unnerved and Derek felt hope blossom in his chest. 

“You want to do this, then let’s do it, because Allison Argent is part of my pack, and with her comes her father and the rest of her family. You threaten my pack and you’ll be the ones that die, yeah, maybe you’ll take me with you, I’m not going to deny you could probably beat me in a fight, but, the instant you move a single fucking inch, towards my sister or my pack, my pack is going to run, they’re going to run to Chris Argent and before you know it you’ll have a hundred hunters tracking you down, making sure you have no rest, no peace, until eventually you’re so exhausted that you’ll beg for them to end your pathetic existence.” He snarled, smirking when he saw Kali, Ennis, Aiden and Ethan all pale, looking worried. “Now, if I were you, I’d let my sister go and then I’d get the fuck out of Beacon Hills, I’ll be kind and give you half a day head start before I tell Chris Argent that you threatened to kill his daughter.” He looked to Allison, she was grinning widely, proudly, the bow and arrow in her hands looking deadly.

“I think I should just call him now.” She said and Derek smiled at her before turning back to Deucalion. 

“Your choice.” He warned, he knew that if Stiles was here, he would probably be jumping up and down on the spot, pumping his hands up in victory, grinning widely at the Alpha pack as Derek outsmarted them. Derek couldn’t help but smile at the image in his mind. 

“Deucalion…” Kali muttered looking worried, “We should leave.” Deucalion looked at her, then the rest of his pack, it was clear to all of them that if Deucalion attacked the Hale pack, he would be doing it alone. 

“You’ll pay for this.” Deucalion said before signalling for Ennis to let go of Cora and storming off into the trees, Derek continued watching until long after the entire Alpha pack had vanished from view, convinced that if he looked away, they would take the opportunity to attack. Cora stumbled forwards, falling into Peter’s arms and Derek finally looked away, taking in his sisters battered appearance, unable to believe that she was here, that she was alive. 

“Come on, let’s get you home and then you can tell us what happened.” Peter muttered comfortingly as Cora hugged tight to Derek, sobbing into his shoulder, unable to believe that her brother and uncle were still alive, that Derek was the Hale Alpha that was taking back Beacon Hills. 

“I thought you were both dead.” She muttered, she couldn’t stop crying, she’d been convinced she was going to die and then Derek had appeared and not only had he saved her and his entire pack, he’d forced the Alpha pack to run for the hills without raising a finger, he was every bit the Alpha their mother had been and she was so proud of him. 

“So did we. What happened Cora? How are you alive?” Derek asked as soon as they’d arrived back at the loft and Cora had had some food, a shower and had been introduced to the rest of the pack. 

“I’d snuck out, the day of the fire, I was supposed to go around to one of my friends after school and mom had told me I wasn’t allowed, that she’d heard about a hunter in the area and it wasn’t safe. I ignored her. I snuck out. Then I felt the bond break.” She whispered and Derek winced, he remembered that moment all too clearly, the moment the bond with his mother, his Alpha, had vanished from his chest. 

“Bond? What bond?” Isaac asked and Derek looked pained. 

“A pack, when they truly become a pack, when they bond properly, you’ll feel a bond with your pack members and your Alpha in your chest, it takes time. For us, we’d always felt it, it was our family, we grew up and the bond matured with us. I’m still new to being an Alpha, you’re all still new to being wolves, we haven’t made a real bond yet, but it’ll come in time.” Derek explained. 

“Right, so, you’re saying that eventually, we’ll all have bonds between us, that, we’ll be like, able to feel each other’s pain and stuff?” Erica asked looking worried. 

“Yes and no.” Peter said, taking over from Derek which Derek was secretly relieved about, Peter definitely knew more about bonds than him, “Each pack has different experiences with their bonds, some claim they can feel every emotion, one memorable pack even said they could read each others minds. With our family, and I assume it will be the same with this pack as Derek is the Alpha, you’ll be able to feel connections to each other, and, sometimes, in times of great distress, you’ll be able to feel that something is wrong, you won’t be able to feel their pain per say, but, you’ll know that they need help. And, although your main bond would be with the Alpha, you’ll be able to feel slightly weaker bonds with each other too, but, like Derek said, it takes time. You’re all new to this, don’t be too hard on yourselves, it’s not an instant thing.” 

Derek felt Cora’s and Peter’s bonds first, as they were blood relatives who he’d known in childhood it wasn’t exactly surprising. What was surprising was that Scott’s was the next to form, it took a few months and in that time Scott and Derek had grown closer, they’d started getting along much better. It was only when Scott had the option and opportunity to keep something important from Derek, but chose not to, that Derek decided he could trust him and a moment later he felt a warm tickle in his chest and he knew Scott had felt the same thing if the wide, happy grin on his face was anything to go by. 

“You bonded with me.” Scott grinned, almost bursting with happiness and Derek rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t make it a big deal, anyway, you were saying about Deaton?” Derek said, trying not to be embarrassed, refusing to look at Scott who was grinning at him and bouncing on the spot like an overexcited puppy. “Scott! Focus!”

“No fair! Why did you form a bond with him before me!?” Jackson said and Derek shook his head in bemusement. 

“We’re not going into this right now. You were telling me about what Deaton said.” Derek said, trying to keep them on track. The downside to having such a young pack was that they got so easily distracted, especially when they were excited, which it was obvious they were right now. 

“How’s it feel!?” Isaac asked, sounding hopeful and Derek smiled at him fondly as Scott pursed his lips in thought. 

“It’s kind of weird, like, I don’t know, I can feel that Derek’s there, that he’s okay, that he’s, um, is that happy?” Scott asked and Derek stared at the ground feeling so embarrassed that he didn’t even know what to say. 

“Focus! Deaton says there’s a magic user helping hunters?” Derek pressed, trying to distract them all from what Scott had said. 

“Right, yeah, so, the way he tells it, there’s a hunter out there, or maybe multiple hunters, nobody is really sure, but they’ve got this magic user working with them and they’re basically killing anybody who even looks at them funny. He told me to make sure we keep our heads down for a few months, you know, don’t give them any reason to look at Beacon Hills.” 

“Isn’t Deaton a druid though? I mean, surely he could fight or even defeat this other magic user long enough for us to reason with them?” Lydia asked and Scott shrugged. 

“Nah, he says that his magic is like a two-year-old trying to do parlour tricks in comparison to freaking Merlin.” Scott said, Derek thought he maybe shouldn’t sound as excited as he did when this caster could end up killing them all. 

“Does he have any other information? Names? Locations? Any distinguishing features?” Cora asked and Scott shook his head. 

“No, and, really, it’s only rumours at the moment, for all we know, that could be all there is to it, but, I just, I wanted to make sure we were prepared, if anything did happen.” Scott said, grinning when he felt how proud Derek was of him in that moment. 

“It’s not a big deal.” Derek muttered under his breath which Scott just smiled at and it set the rest of the pack off again, Derek had had enough so he headed towards the door, letting them all discuss it together as he headed to the hospital to see Noah. 

He’d taken to speaking to Noah on these visits, telling him about what had been going on, he knew the man couldn’t hear him, that he was only there in body, but, he wanted to believe that some part of Noah knew what was going on and he wanted him to know that he wasn’t alone. He explained about the pack bond forming with Scott before any of his betas which had caught him by surprise, maybe it was because Scott had betrayed him previously and now he had proven that he could be trusted to look out for the interests of the entire pack, not just his own. Derek wasn’t sure, but, he knew it was a good thing, a step forwards, in the right direction, once Stiles came home, which he’d do soon, Derek was sure of it, then he would be able to see how Scott and Derek had put their arguments behind them, that they were now part of the same pack, that they were growing, getting better, becoming people that deserved to have Stiles in their lives. 

As the months went on Derek began to form bonds with the entire pack, he was surprised by how suddenly they all seemed to come together, as if Scott had been the switching point and, all of a sudden, the rest of the bonds had formed after it. It was nice, incredible even, he felt like things were coming together again, he just needed Stiles to come home and things would be okay. 

They’d called Sofia’s number multiple times, always leaving messages for Stiles, but, they never heard anything back, other than the odd text that he was fine, that he still hadn’t forgiven Scott or any of the others for not being there for him and that he wasn’t coming home, that he wanted them to stop contacting him, to leave him alone. Derek would do anything to hear his voice, to see him, but he was doing everything he could to make sure he respected Stiles’ wishes, he wanted to be kept out of this, that’s what they would do. 

Melissa had finally forgiven Scott, she still sometimes pulled him up on his behaviour when he got too wrapped up in Allison, which Derek appreciated, mainly because Scott was still kind of oblivious and stubborn and sometimes he dug his heels in for the most ridiculous reasons so Derek appreciated all the help he could get. 

School carried on for the pack as normal, well, as normal as it got in Beacon Hills, Cora had joined the same class as Lydia and the others, Derek hadn’t really thought about it before but if the fire had never happened then Cora would have been in the same class as Stiles, he wondered how things would have been different if the fire had never happened, if Stiles and Cora would have become friends, if Derek would have met him earlier in life, if Derek would have fallen for him as hard as he had. 

He stilled at that thought. He was in love with Stiles. Holy shit. He was in love with Stiles. He shook his head to try and rid the thought from his mind, he couldn’t be in love with Stiles, the last person he’d been in love with had murdered his family, he couldn’t do it again, he couldn’t risk it again. It didn’t matter that Stiles had proven time and time again that he would do anything to protect the pack, so why couldn’t Derek risk it? Because he was scared. It was that simple. He was terrified of trusting somebody with his heart the same way that he’d trusted Kate, terrified of making the same mistake all over again. 

Thankfully nobody else had been around to witness his epiphany, he was grateful for that, he didn’t even know what to do with the knowledge, Stiles wasn’t speaking to any of them, he could be anywhere in the world and he was safe, he was out of this life, Derek wanted him by his side, god did he want him here, so badly, but it wasn’t what Stiles wanted. 

Before he knew it, it had been a year since the night of the lacrosse game, since everything had changed. The Hale house was finished, they’d only been in a few days so they were all still trying to get their bearings, buying furniture, picking out colours, figure out where they wanted things to go, usually Lydia decided and everyone else agreed because they didn’t want to argue with her, the pack had bonded over the last year, they were stronger, more in sync with each other, happier, the only thing missing was Stiles, they all felt his absence like a physical thing, but, there was nothing they could do about it, he wouldn’t even return any of their calls.


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles stared at the man in the bed in front of him, it had been so long since he’d seen him, he looked like he could just be sleeping, he reached out with trembling fingers, touching the bare skin of the arm in front of him. 

“Hey dad.” He whispered quietly, feeling the tears welling up in his eyes already, he couldn’t cry, if he started he didn’t think he’d stop, he had to be strong, he had to do this now, “I don’t have much time, but, I just, I wanted to tell you I love you dad. I love you so much.” He took a steadying breath, fighting back the tears as best as he could, running his hands over his face to stop himself, he touched his fingers to his dads arm again, “One day, I hope, we’ll see each other again, I’m sorry. I love you.” He closed his eyes and lowered his chin to his chest as if in prayer, a single tear running down his cheek before he broke contact with his father and turned towards the door, exiting the room as quietly as he’d arrived. There was one more goodbye he had to make before he left Beacon Hills forever. 

“You mind if I catch a lift with you to the hospital?” Scott said, glancing out of the window where it was starting to rain, it looked like it would be a downpour, one of those that would come and go so quickly that if you’d blink you would miss it. 

“Why?” Derek queried, “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little water?” He teased and Scott rolled his eyes. 

“Of course not, I just said that I’d call in and see mom for a bit, and I’d prefer not to get soaked, I know you’re going to go see Noah anyway.” Scott said, “Come on Derek, dude, please?” 

“Fine.” Derek grumbled. “Let’s go.” 

By the time they were part way to the hospital the rain had come, it was coming down so hard that it was bouncing off the windscreen almost violently, there was barely anybody in the streets and those that were caught out in it were scurrying quickly from one storefront to the next, apart from one man. He was walking up the sidewalk with a baseball cap on his head, his shoulders hunched up and his chin tucked into his jacket, he strode forward with purpose, like he had a place he needed to be and no rain was going to stop him, his clothes looked to have seen better days, torn and patched in places, they didn’t fit him properly, the jeans just a touch too loose and the t-shirt that was clinging to his chest was maybe a size too small. Derek had already driven past him when he recognised who it was, he slammed on the brakes, ditching the car at the side of the road, ignoring Scott’s indignant squawk and throwing himself out in the rain, hurrying to catch up with the man who was striding in the opposite direction.

“Stiles!” He called out, reaching out to grab Stiles’ arm, he saw him tense, his shoulders raise just a fraction higher before he spun on the spot, easily moving out of Derek’s reach and turning to look at him. “I thought it was you! You’re back!” Derek said, feeling so happy that he knew the pack would feel it through his bond. 

“Derek what the hell…” Scott said, running up from the car, trailing off when he saw Stiles standing in front of him, “Stiles!” He smiled, taking a step towards him and freezing when Stiles took a step backwards, looking at Scott like he was nothing but shit on his shoe, “It’s me Stiles, Scott.” Derek stared at Stiles’ face, memorized it, took in all the changes that had happened in the last year, his cheekbones were more defined, his hair looked longer under the baseball cap, definitely not a buzzcut, he had a few barely noticeable faint scars across his neck, like something had clawed at him, a house cat maybe, his eyes looked harder, darker, like they held the weight of the world, he also looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days, dark circles under his eyes, but, god, he still looked perfect, he was so beautiful, how had Derek never realised that before? Stiles was gorgeous, truly, completely, breath-taking, he had no idea how he’d missed it, but, god, he’d missed it, he’d missed him.

“I know who you are dumbass. I just don’t want you touching me.” Stiles snarled and Derek thought he was going to be sick, he’d never seen Stiles’ features filled with so much contempt, he’d never heard Stiles sound like that before, he didn’t even know Stiles could sound like that, not towards Scott, not towards any of them, there was so much hate, so much disgust in his voice that Derek felt physically sick, any happiness he felt at seeing Stiles evaporated instantly. 

“Stiles, what happened? Where’ve you been?” Scott asked and Stiles glared at him. 

“Now’s really not the time to pretend like you give a damn about me Scotty. Just go back to your perfect little life and leave me to get on with mine.” Stiles replied and Scott looked to be on the verge of tears. 

“What are you talking about? I’ve missed you Stiles. I want to part of your life. Come on Stiles, I know you can’t be that mad at me, you just called me Scotty, you still care about me, I know you do, I want to be part of your life Stiles.”

“Well I don’t want to be part of yours!” Stiles snapped, “You think I would want anything to do with you!? With any of you? You’re monsters.” He spat out the last word and Derek felt it like a physical thing, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think, he was sure his heart had stopped beating, Stiles had never used that word before, not for them, they were never monsters, they were just people that went a little furry sometimes. 

“You don’t believe that.” Scott whispered. 

“Don’t I?” Stiles growled dangerously, “Just leave me the hell alone. I’ll be gone again before the end of the day. You’ll never see me again.” 

“Stiles, wait, please!” Derek said desperately and Stiles glanced at him, for a second he thought he saw a flash of fear, of regret, of helplessness in Stiles’ eyes, but then he had to swipe at the water running down his face and when he looked again there was only the steely determination of a man on a mission, “You don’t have to go anywhere, you can come back to the house, we can talk, you can stay with us while you figure out what to do about your dad. I didn’t want to give him the bite until I could talk to you, maybe, maybe now you’re back, you want to talk about it as an option?” 

“I’m not back Derek. I’m leaving. Do what you want.” Stiles said, spinning on his heel and walking away from them while Scott and Derek both stared after him in shock. 

“I don’t understand. Stiles…he’s…I don’t know what’s happened to him…but he can’t just leave, right?” Scott said sounding confused, Derek was going to chase after him, force him to come to the house where they could talk, but, instead, his phone started ringing and when he didn’t answer, Scott’s started up, that’s when Derek knew there was probably an issue. 

“Who is it?” He asked even as Scott answered the call. 

“Mom? Are you alright? What’s going on?” 

“It’s a miracle Scott. It’s an actual real-life miracle. It’s Noah. He’s waking up.” Melissa said sounding so ecstatic that Derek believed her instantly, “Can you call Derek and let him know to get to the hospital as soon as he can?” 

“I’m right here Melissa. We’ll be there in ten.” He said, glancing back towards where he’d seen Stiles, intending to grab him and tell him his dad was alive, that he was waking up, that they could go and see him, but Stiles was nowhere in sight. Instead they jumped back in the car, raced to the hospital, knowing the rest of the pack wouldn’t be far behind, and sprinted towards Noah’s room, desperate to see him. 

There was a lot of activity in Noah’s room when they arrived, a lot of people seemed to be running around almost frantically, wheeling machines in and out of the room, whispering about how it was a miracle and that they couldn’t believe it. Derek didn’t care about what they thought, all he wanted was to be in the room, to see Noah was alive, awake, then he could go and find Stiles and tell him the good news and fix whatever had happened between them for Stiles to call them monsters. Then he could come home, and Derek could tell him that he cared about him, that he wanted to be with him, if Stiles could ever forgive him, if Stiles would ever consider being with him. 

Melissa stopped them from entering the room, holding up a hand to still Derek in place and he stared at her for a few moments before he realised she wasn’t going to move out of the way. 

“What’s happening?” Scott asked. 

“They’re running a few more tests, a nurse went in on her rounds and noticed him moving his fingers, she called a doctor, his pupils were responsive and they started running tests, his brain is healing itself, they don’t know how it’s doing it, they’re calling it a miracle, but, somehow, someway, he’s healing, he’s going to wake up, he’s going to be okay.” 

“How long will it take?” Derek pressed and Melissa shrugged. 

“It’s not like this is standard procedure. It seems to be accelerating, it could be a matter of minutes or maybe a few hours, I’m not sure.” 

“I need to go and find Stiles, tell him the good news.” Derek said. 

“Stiles is back?” Melissa queried. 

“Yeah, we just saw him, about twenty minutes ago.” Scott said, looking suddenly thoughtful, “He was coming from this direction.” He paused, looking at his mom sorrowfully, “He wouldn’t even let me hug him, he called me a monster.” Melissa gaped at him, thinking that Scott was lying to her, he had to be, Stiles was, he was the one who had made her see that her son was still her son, just, with a bit more of a wild side, there was no way Stiles would ever call Scott a monster, it just wasn’t possible. 

“He was upset about something. I’m sure he was. I just, I need to go find him.” Derek said just as the rest of the pack appeared through the hospital doors, all looking equally excited at the happy news. 

“I’ll go find out if they’ve got any kind of time frame and then you can go look for him.” Melissa said, walking back into the room that was thankfully less busy than it had been a few minutes before.

“Do we have any idea what happened to him? Why he’s started to heal?” Lydia queried. 

“I don’t know. Nobody knows. It’s a miracle apparently.” Derek said, his heart thudding unsteadily, he didn’t know what had happened to Noah, but he knew it could only mean good things were happening finally. 

Noah wasn’t sure where he was or what had happened, he tried to think about where he’d been, who he’d been with, maybe that would help him figure out where he was, he blinked his eyes open slowly, looking around with surprise, he was in the hospital, Melissa was standing just inside the doorway speaking to a doctor and Noah raised a hand towards her, he saw it the second she caught sight of the movement, looking towards him with such relief, such excitement that Noah felt sure that something serious had happened. 

“Noah!” She smiled, moving toward him, gripping his hand tightly with tears in her eyes, “It’s okay, you’re okay.” She said and Noah nodded, he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, his throat was so dry, how long since he’d had something to drink? How long had he been in here? “Don’t worry, you’ve been asleep for a while, just take your time, it’s going to be okay.” She said, pouring water into his mouth and Noah stilled, memories flooding back to him instantly. 

“It’s going to be okay dad. Just, go, get in your car. Drive away. Don’t look back.” Stiles said with such fear in his voice. 

“Stiles. Stiles. Where is he?” Noah said, panic flooding through him as he threw back the sheets and made to get out of bed. 

“Sheriff Stilinski, you need to take it slow, you’ve been in a coma for a year.” The doctor said and Noah felt like he was going to throw up, a year? He’d lost a year? But, what about Stiles? Where was he?

“What about my son? Where is he? Is he here? God, is he alive? Tell me he’s alive?” Noah pressed, the room spinning around him, but he forced the nausea down, Stiles was his priority, he had to find him. 

“Stiles is fine Noah. Scott and Derek saw him less than an hour ago. He’s fine.” Melissa said trying to sooth the obviously agitated Noah. 

“He’s fine? Really? Honestly? He’s alive?” Noah asked, relief sweeping through him and making his knees weak. 

“He’s alive sir, he’s okay.” Derek said from the doorway and Noah looked up at him, trying to figure out what Derek was doing here. Was what that madman said true? Was it all true? He looked at the doctor, then at Derek and Melissa, he could see several other people hovering behind Derek, Scott included, looking at him in concern. 

“Doc, can you give us a few minutes? There’s certain things I need to catch up on.” Noah said firmly.

“There’s tests I need to run.” The doctor replied. 

“You can run them later. Right now, I need to speak to them urgently.” Noah said, leaving no room for argument, the doctor looked at them all before pursing his lips in annoyance and leaving the room, “Can you shut the door behind you please?” Noah asked and the doctor almost slammed it shut as Derek, Scott and the rest of the pack piled into the room. 

“Good to see you awake sir.” Derek said politely, but Noah didn’t have time for niceties, he needed to see his son. 

“One of you needs to call Stiles, tell him I’m awake. I need to see him with my own two eyes, see that he’s okay.” Noah said, “What?” He asked when everyone looked guilty. 

“We don’t have his number any more. He left his phone here when he left town and we never got his new number.” Scott explained, “He’s back though, we saw him earlier, I’m sure we can find a way to track him down.” He added hurriedly when Noah looked worried. 

“When he left town? Where? Where did he go? Who did he go with?” Noah asked. 

“Um, we don’t really know where he went, we, um, we didn’t know about you getting shot for a few days and when we did…”

“What about Stiles? How bad was he? Did they have to operate?” Noah pressed. 

“Operate? Noah, I think you’re confused, Stiles wasn’t injured.” Melissa said gently and Noah gaped at her. 

“Yes. Yes, he was. He was shot.”

“No, Noah, he wasn’t. He was fine. You were shot but Stiles was fine.”

“Don’t baby me Melissa! I know what I saw! I remember everything like it was yesterday, that fucking madman turned up at our house, I saw him out of the window with a gun pointed at my son’s head. He had him on his knees on the lawn, telling him to beg for his life, to tell him everything and he wouldn’t kill him! I saw it! I was there!” 

“Noah, nobody shot Stiles. The man responsible for shooting you, you shot him back, you killed him. Stiles wasn’t even there.” Scott said and Noah tried to stand up from the bed feeling suddenly frantic, his son, god, his poor boy, he needed to find him. 

“I didn’t shoot him! I didn’t even have my gun on me. Stiles tried to get him to leave me alone, he told me to get in the car and drive and don’t look back. He wanted me to leave him there, leave him to be executed in the middle of our lawn like a war criminal, just because he wouldn’t tell that bastard whatever he wanted to know.” Noah ranted, looking around for some clothes because he was not running around in this gown, the pack were all looking to Derek, beginning to look concerned, Noah seemed so certain, so sure, that Stiles had been shot, but they would have known about that, wouldn’t they? They would have had records of it. 

“Noah. Just, wait a minute. Just, tell us what you think happened, okay?” Derek asked and Noah glared at him, gritting his teeth. 

“One of you go get me some clothes and I’ll give you the shortened version, as soon as they get back with clothes, I’m going to find my son, regardless of whatever else anybody wants to know. Got it?” He growled. 

“Peter,” Derek glanced at him, “Can you go fetch the Sheriff some clothes please?” 

“I’m on it, but I want to be filled in as soon as I’m back.” Peter said, exiting the room swiftly as Noah sank back down to the bed, putting his head in his hands. 

“It was the night of the lacrosse game, Stiles had just scored a few goals, I was so happy for him, so proud of him, and then the lights went off on the pitch and when they came back on, Jackson was dead, obviously that was wrong,” He said glancing at Jackson who was very much alive, “and, the bigger issue was, Stiles was gone.” Noah began, they all knew what had happened to Stiles, Gerard had kidnapped him, tortured and beaten him. 

“And you went home?” Melissa asked. 

“Yeah, I thought he might have gone there. I was terrified, I didn’t know what had happened to him, I thought anything could have happened to him, imagining the worst. A few hours later I heard somebody shouting from outside the front of the house, I looked out of the window and I saw a man, he was standing with a gun pointed at somebody who was kneeling on the ground, it took me a second, and then I realised it was Stiles. He had a gun held to Stiles’ head. He was going to shoot him. I ran outside, I didn’t know what I was going to do, I just, I had to do something.” Noah continued. 

Derek felt sick at the image Noah’s words created, had Gerard gone to the house? Held a gun to Stiles’ head? Threatened him until Stiles had decided he didn’t want anything to do with them any longer? 

“I didn’t see the three other men with him, not until it was too late, they grabbed me, shoved me down onto my knees near Stiles, he looked awful, like they’d beaten the crap out of him, he was all cut and bruised, his back was all cut up like he’d been whipped, he was barely conscious but he was still fighting, I tried to break free, then I realised who the man was, it was Gerard Argent, the school principle, he was laughing, taunting Stiles, telling him he was going to kill both of us if Stiles didn’t tell him what he wanted to know.”

“No.” Erica whispered in horror, her hands over her mouth as Lydia turned to glare at her to shut up, “Sorry.” She muttered quietly. 

“He started ranting and raving about werewolves, about how they were real, how Stiles knew who they were, where they were, that if he told Gerard what he knew then he’d spare our lives. I kept telling him he was insane, that there was no such thing, but, Stiles, he, he didn’t correct me. Then Gerard started saying he knew you, ‘Derek Hale is the Alpha’, and, at the time I didn’t know what that meant, but, looking at you all here, he was telling the truth. You’re their leader, and, you’re all, you’re all were…” He cleared his throat, “You’re werewolves?” Noah asked and Derek’s eyes glowed bright red, allowing his actions to speak louder than words. 

“Yeah, he was telling you the truth about us being werewolves, but that’s all. We’re not a threat, we don’t kill people. Stiles knows about us. Gerard is a hunter. He wants to kill us just for existing. Stiles was protecting us.” Derek explained as the rest of the pack flashed their eyes and Noah seemed to clench his jaw before nodding in acceptance. 

“That explains a lot about the mysterious goings on in this town.” He muttered under his breath. 

“What happened next? Did Gerard leave?” 

“No. He pointed the gun at me, he told Stiles he was going to count to three and if Stiles didn’t give him names, he’d shoot me. I told Stiles not to say anything, that the man was insane and he’d hurt whomever Stiles named, I, I was prepared to die, I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to leave my son with that monster, but, I couldn’t let Stiles feel responsible if Gerard killed anybody else because of what he said. He pulled the trigger and Stiles moved, I think to try and protect me, he shot me, but the bullet, it hit Stiles first, it went straight through his chest, hit me afterwards.” 

“Oh god.” Melissa mumbled looking horrified. 

“I don’t remember what happened next, I blacked out for a few moments at least, when I came to, Stiles was leaning on me, he was trying to put pressure on my wound and there was so much blood on his shirt, he looked like he was barely conscious and still trying to save my life over his own, and then, Gerard said something, something about how ‘he might be of use after all’, and the guys with him grabbed Stiles, and they pulled him off me, and, he was screaming, shouting for me, telling me he loved me, and they threw him in the back of a van and then, I don’t remember what happened after that.” He shivered, Stiles’ voice haunting him. 

‘Dad! Dad! No! Stop! Dad! Please! Let me help him! Please! Dad! I love you, I love you! Dad! Please! Stop! Dad!’ Stiles screamed as the doors shut behind him, blocking him from view. 

“But, he must have escaped some way or something.” Jackson said and Noah looked up as the door opened and Peter reappeared with some clothes looking furious, Derek had no doubt that he’d heard at least some of Noah’s story. 

“Yeah, I mean, when we found out about you being in the hospital, we came to see you, and, Stiles had already left town, his aunt had come and picked him up, so, he must have escaped or something and then come to see you and then called her and left.” Scott said, trying to ease the worry running rampant through his body, because Stiles had been shot and none of them had known about it, it couldn’t have been as bad as Noah said though, not if Stiles had escaped, not if he’d walked away from it without any kind of surgery.

“Which aunt?” Noah had frozen, one trouser leg half pulled on and Scott looked at him in confusion. 

“His aunt Sofia.” Derek said firmly, not expecting Noah to look like his legs had actually given way, all colour draining from his face. 

“I have a sister called Sofia, she lives in Poland, she’s on the family tree, it’s why we chose to use that name.” Noah whispered. 

“What?” Peter queried. 

“We need to find Stiles, right now. We need to find him right FUCKING now!” Noah said, getting off the bed and pulling the trousers up properly before heading for the door. 

“Noah, wait, just, tell us what’s going on.” 

“Sofia is a code word…”

“…For if he’s in trouble.” Scott interrupted looking sick to his stomach, “He told me, he told me your code words, when you came up with them and I just, fuck, I forgot. Stiles was trying to tell us he was in trouble. We need to find him.” Scott said, practically sprinting from the room while Derek was left confused and terrified in equal measure. 

The pack all piled into their respective vehicles, glad that it had at least stopped raining for the time being, Derek insisting that Noah ride with him so he could try and figure out what was going on. Noah jumped in along with Melissa, Isaac and Peter and Derek tore out of the car park.

“Where would Stiles be going? You said you saw him? Which direction was he heading?” Noah said and Derek tried to think. 

“He was walking down the high street, out towards the old mills maybe?” Derek said, already setting off in that direction. 

“I don’t know why he’d go there.” Noah replied, “But, maybe we’ll be able to find him if we drive around, or, can you, um, smell him or whatever?” 

“I can try.” Derek said, knowing the rain would have washed any of Stiles’ scent away already. “Why do you have code words? And how do you know that Stiles wasn’t actually with his Aunt Sofia?” Noah turned to look out of the window, hoping to catch sight of Stiles somewhere. 

“My sister, she is, she’s, we don’t speak, she murdered our mother. She served her time, but she never showed any remorse, the experts say she’s a psychopath, not able to feel human emotions, I haven’t spoken to her in over twenty-five years. We came up with code words because when Stiles was ten, he was kidnapped.” 

“I remember.” Melissa said, “It was by a man you were tracking as part of a murder enquiry.” 

“Yeah, exactly. He decided to try and get me to back off by taking Stiles. People had seen him with Stiles, seen him talking to him, but Stiles hadn’t said anything. He said afterwards it was because he’d had a knife dug into the back of his neck and Stiles was scared if he’d shouted for help, he would have been stabbed. The guy, his name was Michael, he made Stiles call me, tell me that he was going to Scott’s instead of going home and could I pick him up when I finished my shift. I didn’t know, I had no idea anything was wrong.” 

“You couldn’t have known.” Peter said, trying to offer him some comfort. 

“We saw Stiles around here somewhere earlier.” Derek interrupted, wanting them all to be on the lookout. “Peter’s right though, there was no way you could have known.”

“I could have, if Stiles had been able to say something without alerting Michael to what was going on. That if Michael had thought he was behaving but he would have been able to alert me, that he was still going to get help. Anyway, we got him back after three days, I shot Michael when he tried to use my kid, my Stiles, as a fucking shield. As soon as I’d got him checked over, we came up with code words, things he could say in a normal sentence but would let me know that something was wrong. Sofia was one of them. We both knew Stiles would never have anything to do with her, but, if anybody doubted his word, her name was still on the family tree, it made sense.” 

“I’m so sorry Noah, we should have realised.” Melissa said and Noah gritted his teeth. 

“No, I should have, I don’t know, I should have done something more, I just, god, I need to see him, see that he’s okay.” Noah said, “Wait! Wait! Stop! Back up!” Noah shouted and Derek slammed the brakes on, looking around for Stiles, “Take that right, it goes to the churchyard. Claudia’s grave. He’ll go to see his mom.” Derek swung the car into the turning, praying that Noah was right, that Stiles would go to see his mom before he left town again. 

His mind was racing, he couldn’t understand, if Gerard had kidnapped Stiles then why was he here now? Why hadn’t he asked them for help? Why hadn’t he called as soon as he escaped? Why hadn’t they known what was going on!? None of them had spoken to Stiles, not once. It had all been done through voicemail and text! Why hadn’t one of them made sure Stiles was okay!? God, what if it wasn’t even him that had been texting them!? 

Stiles stared at the headstone in front of him, it was weathered with age, he brushed away a few of the surrounding leaves, taking his time to clear the area, this was her resting place, he wanted it to be good for her, he’d always done his best to maintain it over the years, and now, well, he felt his heart breaking slightly at the thought that he wouldn’t be here to maintain it in the future, that somebody else would do it, maybe, maybe not, maybe it would just get forgotten about, left behind, just like him. 

“Hey mom.” He whispered quietly, “I don’t have long, I don’t know how much time I have before…” He trailed off, sucking in a breath, “I want to say goodbye, properly. I don’t think, I think that we’re probably not going to end up in the same place, not after what I’ve done, so, this will probably be the last time we talk, and I just, I want you to know I love you, and I’m so sorry and I wish that things were different, that you’d got more time with dad, that’s my fault, I’m sorry.” He heard the squeal of tyres stopping at the gate and he let out a sob of fear, he wanted more time, he wasn’t ready, but he didn’t have a choice, he had to, it was the only way. He pulled the blade from his jacket, holding it tight in his hand, he couldn’t go back, he had to do this. 

“Stiles! Stop!” Derek shouted in terror, Stiles was sat by his mom’s grave, a knife in his hand, looking ready to plunge it in to his chest. The entire pack caught up with him a second later, he’d sprinted ahead, desperate to get to Stiles, and now he was so relieved he had, if he had been a second later, he would have been too late. Stiles had stilled in his movements, looking away from the knife to glance at Derek and the rest of the pack, his jaw clenching in anger, in hatred, until he saw his dad and tears filled his eyes. 

“Stiles, oh, thank god kiddo, you’re okay.” Noah said, taking a step towards Stiles and freezing when Stiles tightened his grip on the knife, his gaze firmly on his father. “Okay, it’s okay Stiles, whatever this is, we can fix it, okay?” 

“You can’t fix it dad. You can’t help me.” Stiles said, he sounded terrified, like it was taking everything he had not to fall apart completely. 

“I’m your dad Stiles, I can always help you, just, talk to me, tell me what’s going on, tell me how to help.” Noah said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture when Stiles looked ready to use the knife again. 

“I have to, I have to do this. I can’t go back there. This is the only way dad. I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t have to go back. You’re home now. You’re safe. Let me help you. Let me protect you.” Noah said and Stiles let out a dark, humourless laugh. 

“That’s why I’ve got to do it, you can’t protect me, this is the only way it ends, how it has to end. To protect you.” Stiles explained, he looked pained, like it was killing him not to break down and run into his father’s arms, “You need to leave dad, you need to get out of here. I don’t want you to have to see this. I have to do this now before it’s too late, you can’t stop me. I have to. Please, I don’t want you to see. Just leave, please.” He practically begged. 

“Stiles, please, you don’t have to do anything.” Scott said taking a step forward and Stiles’ face changed, gone were the pleading, pain filled eyes, instead there was just anger, hatred, and it broke Derek’s heart. 

“Don’t talk to me. Don’t act like we’re friends. You’re a monster. You all are. You shouldn’t have dragged him in to this. Get him out of here.” Stiles said angrily, Derek heard another engine switch off down by the entrance to the graveyard and he stilled, somebody was coming and he needed Stiles to drop the knife, now. 

“Stiles, somebody is coming, you need to put the knife away, you need to stop this.” Derek said, however, instead of knocking sense into Stiles, it only seemed to make things worse, Stiles paled, his grip tightening. “No!” Derek shouted in denial as Stiles stabbed the knife forward, seemingly intent on slamming it through his own heart. 

“Stop!” A voice called out and Stiles froze, the tip of the knife had barely done more than broken the skin and Derek relaxed in relief, Stiles was okay, he was still alive, he was okay, there was still hope, he could fix this, he would fix this. He sucked in a lungful of air gratefully and caught a scent he thought he would never smell again, he stilled in horror, unable to believe what his nose was telling him.

“You’re dead.” Peter muttered, turning and staring at the woman behind them, Derek turned too, doing his best to put his pack behind him, put himself between them and the danger they were now facing. 

“It didn’t stick.” She smirked before turning to look at Derek, “Aww, did you miss me sweetie?” She smiled and Derek felt sick to his stomach. 

“Kate.” He spat angrily through gritted teeth. 

Kate took a step towards them and Derek snarled dangerously, she would not be coming anywhere near him or his pack, he glanced at the three men with her, their fingers tight on the triggers of their guns, ready to shoot them the instant they moved. 

“Relax dog, I’m not here for you.” She smirked, her gaze turning to something just over his right shoulder and Derek turned slightly, following her gaze until his eyes fell on Stiles, “Somebody’s been a naughty boy.” 

“You stay the hell away from him.” Noah said, stepping in between Stiles and Kate, as did the rest of the pack. 

“Stiles. Here. Now.” Kate ordered and Stiles took a stumbling step forward before he was stopped by Noah’s arm across his chest. Derek’s nose was flooded with a scent that was oddly familiar but that he couldn’t quite place, something sweet and light, like fresh cut grass after a rainstorm, but stronger than that, like lightning, powerful, like the air around them could explode at any given moment. Derek couldn’t place it and he couldn’t help but try and inhale it greedily because it was mouth-watering and he wanted to smell that scent forever, he turned slightly, trying to figure out where it was coming from but it seemed to have filled the whole clearing and it’s source couldn’t be located. 

“He’s not going anywhere with you. Now leave.” Noah snapped, Kate only smirked in reply. 

“Oh, it’s cute how you think you have any say in this.” She said, “You know your orders.” She added and Derek wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but he decided that wasn’t the priority when he realised that he couldn’t move. He was frozen in place, other than his head, he couldn’t move any of his body, he glanced to the side and saw the rest of the pack seemed to be in similar states of paralysis and he was terrified, how could he protect them when he couldn’t even move? He couldn’t lose his pack again. Not again. The scent of electricity only seemed to increase, and Derek was convinced that they were all about to be struck by lightning, one look at the rest of the wolves and he knew they could all smell it too. “Good boy, now, come here.” Kate said and Derek heard movement behind him, heard several members of his pack calling for Stiles to stop, to wait, to run, but he did none of those, instead he stepped between the frozen members of the pack until he was in front of Derek, looking at Kate with rage. 

“Leave him alone.” Derek growled and Kate smirked, glancing to the men behind her. 

“Go fetch the tools.” She said and one of them turned towards the entrance, leaving their eyesight a moment later, “Now, you remember what happens when you misbehave, don’t you?” 

“Yes master.” Stiles spat with such venom in his voice that Derek stilled, if Stiles had sounded angry earlier then right now, he was apoplectic, practically vibrating in place with his rage. Thunder rumbled aggressively in the sky above them and Derek glanced upwards to see dark clouds gathering almost abnormally quickly.

“Good boy. You know what happens next then?” She smirked. 

“Yes master.” Stiles repeated, his fingers trembling so much that he clenched his hands into fists. 

“Good. Now, we’re going to deal with this pathetic pack afterwards, once you’ve been suitably punished.” Kate said, smiling when the man returned carrying a small collapsible table and a roll of knives. 

“You touch him and I’ll kill you.” Noah snarled and Kate rolled her eyes. 

“Silence them.” She said and Stiles flicked his fingers, such a small movement that it was barely noticeable and when Derek opened his mouth, no sound came out, he stared at Stiles with dawning horror, Stiles had magic. Stiles had magic! The scent that was flooding through his nostrils was Stiles’ magic! It smelled familiar because it was Stiles’, he had magic, the scent of lightning was Stiles’ power! Oh god! When did that happen? How did that happen? Stiles had fucking magic and to make matters even worse he was working with Kate. 

He knew that Stiles had been their captive, that he was obviously suffering from some kind of Stockholm syndrome, although, Derek was almost certain that Stockholm syndrome was where the victim fell in love with their kidnapper and there was no doubt in Derek’s mind that Stiles hated Kate with a passion. Maybe it was some kind of conditioning, that he was so used to being ‘punished’, and that word alone made Derek feel sick, that Stiles behaved in order to make sure there was no further punishment. He didn’t know, and he didn’t know how to help Stiles, all he knew for definite was that right now, they were all at the mercy of Stiles’ magic and Kate’s insanity. 

Noah was screaming internally, this was all new to him, werewolves and hunters and things that go bump in the night, but, being held hostage in his own body, unable to move, unable to speak, he knew it had something to do with Stiles, he just didn’t know what, and, right now, he wanted nothing more than to hold Stiles, to hug his son, to tell him that it was all going to be okay, no matter what had happened to him in the last year, they’d work through it, together. 

“Happy?” Stiles said sarcastically and Kate reached out and gripped his chin, claws beginning to protrude from her fingertips, logically, Derek should have known that for Kate to be alive she had to have been turned, but to know it and to see it were two very different things.

“Oh, you have no idea.” She smirked, letting go of Stiles, indents of her claws still marking his chin as she turned to inspect the knives that had been unveiled on the table behind her. “I mean, I’d been planning on coming here eventually, wiping out the last of the Hales, making my brother pay for his betrayal, it had been on my to-do list for a long time, and now, we get to kill two birds with one stone, kill being the optimum word.” She smirked. 

Derek tensed, what the hell was happening? If he could just speak, maybe he could convince Stiles to let them go, at least then they could attempt to fight for their lives, as it stood, they were helpless, useless and there was nothing they could do. 

“You know, I always knew you were weak, pathetic and stupid, but, killing yourself to escape, well, that’s a new one. But you made a mistake. You were weak, again. You had to say your goodbyes. If you’d done it the instant you escaped then you would have succeeded, but, you didn’t. You had to go save daddy. Say goodbye to mommy. And now, now they all die because you were too weak to do what needed to be done. Anybody would think you wanted me to kill them, or maybe you really did think you’d be able to save your daddy and still escape from me, maybe you really are that stupid.” Kate said and Stiles glared at the ground, his jaw clenched tight in self-hatred and rage, Derek wanted to tell him she was wrong, she was so wrong, Stiles was the most amazing person he knew, but he couldn’t speak, couldn’t say a single word. “Let’s see, I think, hmm, four should suffice, don’t you think?” She asked and Stiles looked like he was going to be sick, but he nodded regardless. “Good. Now, remember to repeat your orders.” 

Stiles moved forward, standing next to the small table and laying his arm flat across it, his hand gripping the end of the table tightly, looking like he was preparing himself for something awful and Derek was sure whatever was about to happen was going to be horrible for all of them to witness. 

“Begin.” Kate ordered. 

“They are the enemy.” Stiles said, “Show them no mercy. They are monsters and they need to know that. I cannot show them any weakness or they will take advantage. Only show them anger and hatred, they have to know they are monsters, they touch me, they get hurt.” Stiles said almost blandly, like the words were ash in his mouth. Kate smiled, moving closer and pulling out one of the knives. 

“So far so good.” She said before plunging the knife downwards into Stiles’ hand, all the way through until it dug into the wood of the table on the other side, he let out a cry of pain, clenching his jaw and gritting his teeth as his entire body seemed to radiate the pain he was in, Derek wanted to scream at her to stop, beg for her to stop, but he couldn’t, he could do nothing, he was useless. “Continue.” She said, already picking up another knife and playing with the tip of it. 

“They are the enemy. You are not. Protect you and your men at all costs. Follow instructions as they are given. Do not try and fight or disagree with your orders. If the enemy are around, I make sure that they cannot hurt you, in any way.” Stiles said, his voice filled with pain as Kate stabbed another knife into his forearm just above his wrist. “Shit.” Stiles cursed, grimacing and trying to twist away from the pain, it was no use, there was no escape for him. Derek wanted to rip her throat out, he fought with everything he had against the magic that was holding him in place, but it seemed to have no effect. 

“And what are you?” Kate prompted. 

“I am not important. I am not special. Nobody is coming to save me. Nobody cares about me. If they did, they would have called. They would have looked for me. They would have felt it when you hurt me...” Stiles continued, his voice trailing off when Kate stabbed a third knife in half way up his forearm and Stiles sobbed in pain, slamming his free hand into the table in an attempt to fight the pain, Derek felt like his heart was breaking, he should have felt it, he should have known something was wrong, he should have tracked Stiles down and insisted that he came home. Derek had failed him. He had failed him so badly and he would never deserve Stiles’ forgiveness. 

“Final one Stiles.” Kate said picking up the last knife and turning to look at the pack who were all looking devastated by Stiles’ words, she smiled widely, triumphantly and Derek felt his stomach twist uncomfortably, “Who are you?” 

“I’m yours. I do as you say, I protect you, I keep you safe, I follow your orders and I don’t get punished.” Stiles concluded, whimpering and biting his bottom lip to stop a scream when she drove the final knife into his arm just below his elbow. 

“You know, I think we need to add some more rules in, don’t you?” She said and Stiles nodded, still biting his bottom lip and swiping at the sweat and tears of pain on his cheeks, resisting the urge to pull the knives out, he knew that would only result in further punishment. 

“Yes master.” Stiles agreed. 

“Good, now, hmm, let me think about this for a moment,” Kate hummed, smirking to herself and Derek knew she was just toying with Stiles, with all of them. “Let’s see, first off, no more running off, or wandering off and getting lost, or going for coffee without specifying which coffee shop you’re going to, no, actually, no doing anything without specifying exactly what you are doing, no, scratch that, don’t do anything without my express permission, from now on, you sit still and wait until I give you something to do, agreed?” 

“Yes master.” Stiles muttered sounding pained and Kate grinned, twisting one of the knives in his arm viciously and Stiles gasped in pain. 

“Good boy. Now, on to part two, I can’t have any more of this nonsense about trying to kill yourself to escape. You know I don’t enjoy having to give you orders,” Kate began and Derek rolled his eyes, he could hear the lie in her words from here, she enjoyed it, a lot, “But, I need you alive, so, no killing yourself, you don’t get to escape that way.” She said and Stiles nodded looking so defeated that Derek just wanted to rip Kate’s throat out to make sure she could never hurt Stiles again. 

“Yes master.” 

“Great, now, let’s deal with these hooligans.” She said, moving forward and ripping the knives out of Stiles’ arm one at a time until, eventually, he was free from the table and he clutched his arm silently, glaring at the floor in hatred. “You don’t heal until I tell you too.” Kate snapped and Stiles bit his lip, holding tighter to his arm, ignoring the blood running from between his fingertips to the ground and nodding silently. 

Kate smirked as she moved towards Derek, still clutching one of the knives that was dripping with Stiles’ blood and wiping it off on Derek’s shirt, before she leaned in close and grinned at him, Derek felt like he was going to puke. 

“Hey Der-bear, long time no see.” She smiled and Derek glared at her, incapable of doing anything else, “Stiles,” Kate called without tearing her gaze from Derek, “Be a sweetheart and let him talk, I want to hear what he has to say.” Stiles twitched his fingers again and instantly there was a chorus of voices. 

“You motherfucker!” “You touch him again and I’ll rip your heart out.” “Stiles! Help us!” “You bitch!” “I’m going to kill you for real this time!” “Just let us move and we’ll kill her now.” “Stiles, you don’t have to do this!” Everyone was shouting, screaming over each other in an effort to be heard, Stiles just stayed where he was, looking pained but refusing to help them, to release them from the hold his magic had on them. 

“I said him, Stiles.” Kate sighed in exasperation and there was instant silence again. “Good. So, Derek, let’s have a catch up, we haven’t seen each other in so long, I mean, we barely got to spend any time together last time I was in town and then your uncle tore my throat out, I mean, all that for setting a fire, I can’t imagine what he’d do to you if he knew what you’d done to help me.” She taunted and Peter and Cora both looked to Derek shocked. “Oh, he didn’t tell you? Me and Der here, we were fucking like rabbits for weeks, months, before the fire, and he told me all the little family secrets, didn’t you?” 

Everyone was staring at Derek like they’d never seen him before, as if they couldn’t believe what Kate was saying, Derek didn’t even attempt to deny it, what was the point? It was time they all knew of his guilt, of his betrayal. 

“I’m going to fucking kill you.” He snarled and Kate laughed. 

“I always enjoyed that wild side of you. It made the sex that much more bearable.” She replied and Derek glared at her.

“You used me. I didn’t know what you were. I thought you loved me, I was wrong.” Derek said coldly and Kate laughed. 

“Aww, Der-bear, don’t be like that, we had a lot of fun together, I mean, before I killed your family.” She smirked, and Derek tried to move forwards, he really did, but, he couldn’t, he glanced at Stiles who was too busy staring at the floor to even look at him and Derek gritted his teeth. 

“I was a child, a sixteen-year-old kid and you used me.” 

“And believe me, I had so much fun doing it.” Kate grinned. “Admittedly, I’ve had more fun with Stiles, he’s been such a good boy for me, haven’t you sweetie?” Derek wanted to kill her, he wanted to bathe in her blood, he wanted to rip her apart piece by piece for daring to touch Stiles like that, for kidnapping him and torturing him and abusing him until things got so twisted for him that he’d started sleeping with Kate. “Admittedly, no matter how much fun I’ve had with him, seeing that look in your eyes when you realised that it was your fault your family died, gosh, it gave me such good, happy tingles.” 

“Daddy must be so proud.” Stiles muttered quietly and Kate turned to glare at him while there were several stifled chuckles from the men behind him, Kate stared at them and they all sobered instantly. 

“Don’t worry Stiles, I’m going to put the exact same look in yours. Except you don’t get the benefit of being an innocent bystander, you’re going to kill them yourself. So, speaking of daddies, let’s talk about yours Stiles.” She said turning away from Stiles, who looked ashen, towards Noah, walking past Derek and standing in front of Noah, assessing him, “You are surprisingly more alive than I was led to believe.” Noah glared at her and she rolled her eyes, “Stiles.” She sighed and a moment later Noah opened his mouth. 

“You’re going to die, painfully, horribly, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.” He snarled and Kate laughed. 

“I think you’ll find, I’m going to kill you, or, more accurately, I think we’re going to get Stiles to kill you. He’s got to pop his cherry at some point, right Stiles?” She called out, Stiles looked like he was going to be sick. “But, not just yet, I’m sure you both want your chance to say goodbye, seems so you didn’t get a proper chance when my daddy shot your son in the chest, shame I missed it, it sounds like it was very entertaining to watch. I got to see the aftermath though, he was practically dead by the time Gerard got him to us, blood everywhere, and the wound,” She moved towards Stiles and trailed a finger along his chest, hovering around his sternum almost gently, “You should have seen it, I could practically see straight through to the other side, all because he took a bullet for you, and what did you do? You left him. You abandoned him. He hates you. Stiles, tell him how much you hate him for abandoning you, for leaving you to suffer at my hands.” Kate smirked and Stiles clenched his fists, glaring at the ground in hatred. 

“I hate you for leaving me with her, for leaving me alone. For never looking for me. You abandoned me and I hate you for it.” He muttered, his voice filled with anger and hatred and Kate grinned brightly turning back to Noah who was looking at Stiles with tears in his eyes.

“He’s lying. I know that, I know you’re lying Stiles. You love me. I know you do. He’s only saying that to keep you happy, I know it. He could never hate me, he loves me. I know that with every fibre of my being. Stiles won’t kill me. Whatever you’ve told him, whatever you’ve done to him, I’m his father, he loves me, he knows I would have looked for him if I had been capable of it, he knows I love him and nothing will ever change that, he won’t kill me and he won’t let you kill me.” Noah snapped. 

“You’re confident of that? Because the way I see it, Stiles is going to kill you, or I am. Which one would you prefer Stiles?” 

“Please Kate.” Stiles whispered, still clutching at his bleeding arm. 

“I thought I’d taught you by now, show no weakness or…?” 

“I get punished.” Stiles muttered under his breath and Derek felt his heart shattering at the helplessness in Stiles’ voice. 

“Good boy. This is so much fun, isn’t it sweetheart?” She said, moving away from Noah and walking back towards Stiles, putting an arm around his shoulder and pulling him into her side, kissing his cheek and leaving her lipstick on it, smirking when the entire pack growled and Stiles hadn’t even moved, still looking at the floor in defeat, like if he didn’t look at them it wasn’t happening, “I’m so excited, I’ve been looking forward to coming back to Beacon Hills but Stiles here did his best to keep me busy elsewhere,” She turned towards Derek and staged whispered, “I think he thought it would keep you safe, he was still trying to look out for you, despite the fact you abandoned him of course, but, this is where we were always going to end up. You. Here. Helpless. Defenceless. And Stiles, well, this is going to be his big moment, his big choice.” Kate paused dramatically and looked at Stiles, who was still staring at the ground, before she looked to Derek, “You know, I imagined a thousand times how satisfying it would be to see your faces when you realised what I’d done to him, when you found out that Stiles never left you, that we took him as ours. Gerard shot him in the chest and yet instead of dying like his dear old dad was doing, he was still crawling around on the floor, trying to reach his dad, pathetic really, especially when he touched his dad’s arm and Noah started breathing again! You can understand of course how it made Gerard curious, how wasn’t Noah dead? How wasn’t Stiles? So, of course, we had to have him, experiment on him, find out everything about how he ticked, break him down, torture him until he nearly lost his mind and still, you never came for him. You left him with us because you never really cared enough to even look for him. And no matter how many times I’d fantasized about it, seeing your face right now is a thousand times better than I could have ever imagined.” She taunted, trailing a claw along Stiles’ clenched jaw, “So, sweetie, are you going to kill your daddy? Or do you want to hold him still while I do it?”

“Please.” Stiles whispered, tears filling his eyes as he turned to finally meet Kate’s eyes. 

“Oh no honey, don’t cry, you’ve never let me see you cry before, don’t start now, it’ll ruin it for me, I don’t want you to break just yet, wait until your dad is dead at least. It’s going to be nice and simple for you, either you kill daddy dearest and these mutts, or you hold them still while I take my sweet time with them. It’s up to you which you’d prefer to do.” 

“Please don’t make me do this, I don’t want…”

“Well tough Stiles. You know the rules. You do as I say, or you get hurt. That’s how it works. Now, do you want to do the honours? Or should I?” She smiled happily and Stiles’ hands were shaking so badly that he clenched them into fists, wincing when his arm throbbed angrily at the movement. “Huh, I forgot about that. You can heal it now.” She said and Derek watched with astonishment as the wounds on Stiles’ arm almost completely healed in front of his eyes, the scent of magic spiking slightly before it returned to normal.

“Kate, please, please don’t make me do this, please.” 

“You can kill them, or I can kill them, it’s up to you.” Kate said, playing with the knife in her hands, “I think I’ll start by skinning daddy alive, see how long I can get him to scream for before his heart gives out. You know how much enjoyment I got from that last time.” 

“Kate, please, I’ll do whatever else you ask, I’ll stop fighting you, I swear, just, please, leave them alone, I promise I’ll behave from now on, I swear I will, I won’t argue with you, I won’t try and fight you, just, please...” Stiles pleaded his voice trailing off as Kate turned around, slamming the knife into Stiles’ thigh and there was a chorus of shouts as Stiles let out a cry of pain, his leg almost buckling at the sudden agony there, but, somehow, miraculously, Stiles managed to stay mostly upright. 

“What are they!?” She shouted.

“Monsters.” Stiles growled through gritted teeth, “They’re monsters. They’re the enemy. They deserve to die. They need to know that they are monsters.” Stiles repeated, clutching at his leg when Kate pulled the knife out. 

“What do we do?” 

“We show no mercy. We show no weakness. All they see is anger and hatred.” Stiles said gripping his leg tightly and clenching his jaw in pain. 

“And what are you?” 

“I’m yours.” Stiles muttered sounding disgusted.

“Damn right you are, now, make a choice, I want to see their bodies on the ground, I want to listen to their hearts as they beat their last, I want to hear as their lungs stop filling with air, I want to watch them fall one by one, so you can do it, or I can, and believe me, I will not make it easy on them or on you, do you understand?” Kate snarled and Stiles nodded reluctantly, taking a steadying breath before taking a stumbling step forwards, his leg almost buckling as he tried to put his weight through it, until Kate put a hand on his arm, “Heal yourself already. But no healing him this time, no saving him from the brink of death, I want to see him dead at my feet and that’s the way he’s going to stay, got it?” 

“Yes master.” Stiles snarled through gritted teeth, moving through the pack towards Noah. 

“Stiles don’t do this!” “Stiles, don’t listen to her.” “You don’t have to do this.” “You can fight her, you can beat her. Just stop.” The voices all shouted out, but Noah was silent, looking at his son with wide eyes. 

“I told you to keep them quiet!” Kate snapped and Stiles nodded, the voices around him fading into nothingness.

“I’m sorry.” Stiles said as he stood in front of his father. “I have to. It’ll be quick. You won’t feel a thing. Just like going to sleep.” He glanced to Kate and she rolled her eyes before gesturing for him to continue and Stiles allowed his father to speak, to say his goodbyes.

“Okay.” Noah nodded firmly, “Stiles, I love you, kiddo. I know you’re trying to do what you think is right, saving me from whatever she’ll do to me. I want you to know I don’t blame you. This isn’t your fault. Whatever she’s done to you, at some point, you’ll realise how wrong it is, and you’ll regret this, think you could have done more. I want you to know that it’s okay, I love you. I love you so damn much kid, nothing is ever going to change that.” 

“I love you too dad. I swear I do.” Stiles muttered, “You remember that game I used to play with mom when I was little? Counting to two and then making a wish? We’d come out with the most ridiculous wishes and you couldn’t make sense of half of them, you used to say it was because me and mom had the same hyperactive brain?” Noah’s eyes went wide and he nodded, looking worried but like he was concentrating solemnly on what Stiles was going to say next. “Well, this will be just like that, counting to two, making a wish and it’ll all be over. I don’t have to, no, the choice that she’s offering, forcing, on me. It’s not like I want to do this, but, what other choice do I have? I, magic, it can’t.” Stiles took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts before speaking again, “I fight with her dad. By her side. Kate’s, she’s right, ALL the time. I control my magic and, and, me. This is my choice. This is what’s right, this is the right thing to do, they’re the enemy dad, they’re monsters, the less of them in the world, the better. I, you’re, it’s going to be okay, fine, even. It won’t even hurt, just like going to sleep. Dad, just, listen, I know, I know I’m making no sense, but, you have to believe me, this is the right thing for you, the best thing for you, this will keep you safe, from her, from them, you know now, you know the truth and it’ll get you killed eventually, this is a mercy, a blessing, this will be so much less painful than what would happen to you in the future, you won’t even feel it dad, I swear to you. All I’ve ever wanted to do was protect you dad and I failed, but I won’t fail again, you’ll be safe from her, from them, from everything. I’m so sorry. Dad, I love you, I love you, but this is the end. We’re not going to see each other again. This is the last time I’ll see you or you’ll see me, and you have to know, I love you, with everything I have, I love you.”

“Hurry it up already.” Kate snapped and Stiles looked at her with such hatred that Derek just couldn’t understand why he’d be willing to do this, why he’d kill his dad just to keep Kate happy, not if he hated her as much as it smelled like he did, not if he had magic that could easily stop her if he just TRIED. 

“Don’t fight this dad, just, let it happen, it’ll hurt more if you fight it. Please. Just close your eyes, count to two and make a wish.” Stiles said, tears filling his eyes before he took a steadying breath as if to force them away, Noah closed his eyes, “One.” Stiles let out a sound that could have been a sob but Derek wasn’t sure, “Two.” He reached forward and touched his fingertips to Noah’s forehead and the man collapsed instantly, Stiles caught Noah before he hit the floor, his face was blank of emotion, tears filled his eyes but he didn’t cry, Derek realised then that he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Stiles cry, he’d seen him look on the verge of it, but, actual tears, no, never. “Make a wish.” Stiles whispered but Noah couldn’t hear him, Derek had heard his heart stop, the man was dead, Stiles had killed his father.

“Well done baby.” Kate cooed happily, running a hand through Stiles’ hair softly, “You did such a good job. You’re right, this was a mercy for him, much better than letting one of these mutts rip him apart when they lose control. You did the right thing.” She said and Stiles nodded, tears still threatening to spill from his eyes as he cradled his father’s body, until he managed to steady himself, he couldn’t cry, he couldn’t fall apart, not now. “So, who do you feel like killing next?” She said and Stiles looked up at her in shock, “What? You didn’t think it was just going to be daddy, did you?” She laughed brightly, “No, oh no. You’re going to do the exact same thing to every single one of them. I am going to see this entire pack dead at my feet.” She pursed her lips and then smiled at Derek, “And we’re going to save the Alpha until last, you’re going to see exactly how much it hurts him when the pack bond breaks, when his entire pack is slaughtered again, because of him, because he should have let you kill yourself, he shouldn’t have stopped you, hell, if he had any sense, he should have torn your heart out with his bare hands, but, hey, we all make mistakes, don’t we Der?” 

“The only mistake I’ve made was not making sure you were dead first time around.” Derek snarled.

“You hear that Stiles? I’m the only mistake he’s ever made! He doesn’t think it was a mistake to never call you, to never check you were okay, he thinks that’s fine. He doesn’t think that it was a mistake to leave you all alone with me, he probably thinks it was the right thing to do, I mean, why would he have wanted somebody as pathetic as you around all the time? He didn’t. Simple as that. Otherwise he would have bonded with you. He would have felt it when my daddy hurt you, when I hurt you, when anybody who felt like airing out some anger management issues hurt you, but he never did. No matter how much you screamed. No matter how much you begged for us to stop. Because he never gave two shits about you. He never did. Otherwise he would have looked for you. He would have felt it.” 

“She’s lying.” Derek said, looking at Stiles who was stood at her side, almost expressionless apart from his lips pressed firmly together, like he was fighting back screaming. “Stiles, we cared, I cared, I still do. Don’t do this. Don’t kill them just because I messed up. Kill me instead. Please.” He pleaded and Stiles turned to look at him, hatred contorting his features. 

“You’ll all die. You’re monsters.” He said tonelessly and Kate preened. 

“Hmm, let’s see, how about the mom next? That’ll be fun won’t it. She was like a mom to you too, wasn’t she?” Kate said and Stiles nodded taking a step towards Melissa, Kate must have seen Scott open his mouth in horror, must have seen the tears in his eyes, “He wants to speak Stiles, let him.” Stiles grimaced, twitching his fingers and instantly Scott started begging.

“No! Stiles! Please!” Scott shouted, “Stiles, please don’t, please, please, I’m begging you, please don’t do this. Stiles, please, please, don’t hurt her, don’t kill her, you don’t have to do this, just use your magic, fight Kate, kill her, she’s the enemy Stiles, not us. Please Stiles, please don’t hurt my mom.” 

“Stiles, please, this isn’t you, please.” Melissa whimpered in fear when Stiles approached and Stiles looked at her, such sorrow in his eyes that Melissa knew instantly, Stiles didn’t want to do this, but, he was going to regardless, he truly believed that he had no choice, that it was the right thing to do. “Okay.” 

“I’ll make it painless for you, you won’t feel anything.” He whispered and Melissa nodded. 

“NO! Stiles! Don’t! Don’t do this! MOM! Mom, please!” Scott screamed with such terror that Melissa felt her heart breaking as tears swam in Stiles’ eyes. 

“I love you Scott.” She said clearly before meeting Stiles’ gaze, “I love you too Stiles, I know this isn’t you. This isn’t the boy I raised. I love you. Don’t forget that. I love you both.” 

“Close your eyes.” He replied sounding physically pained. “Don’t fight it, it’ll hurt more if you fight. It’ll be painless, I promise. I’m sorry.” He said, reaching out and pressing his fingers to her forehead and, once again, she dropped instantly towards the floor, Stiles caught her and lowered her gently to the ground before standing up and turning to Kate. “Who next?”

Kate looked ecstatic, like all her dreams had come true while Stiles just looked angry, upset, like he didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to be doing any of this. 

“No! No! Mom! Mom!” Scott sobbed sounding agonised, able to see his mom’s body out of the corner of his eye, he couldn’t even move to comfort her, this couldn’t be happening, she couldn’t be dead! “You bastard!” He screamed at Stiles who had his back to him, facing Kate, Stiles didn’t even have the decency to turn around, “You think we’re monsters!? Look what you did! You murdered my mom! You’re the only monster here! You should have just killed yourself! I wish you had! I wish you were dead! I’ll kill you myself. You’re a monster! You deserve to die! I hate you! I hate you…” 

“Silence him.” Kate said, evidently not entertained by Scott’s outburst before taking a step towards Stiles, “I said, silence him.” She growled threateningly and Stiles nodded a moment before Scott fell silent, tears still trickling down his cheeks. Kate smirked at Scott, leaning in close to Stiles, practically whispering in his ear but the wolves could hear every word clearly, “He’s right you know, you are a monster. You are a murderer. And if you weren’t so weak, so pathetic, you would have killed yourself before I found you, but, you didn’t, so what’s happening right now, that’s on you. It’s your fault. Stupid, weak, pathetic Stiles. The only reason I haven’t killed you already is because you are useful now and again, but even I can’t stand to look at you, you’re nothing, you mean nothing to anybody, even your supposed best friend wants you dead. You’d be better off dead.” She taunted and Stiles glared at the ground looking pained but refusing to give Kate the satisfaction of knowing Scott’s words had torn a hole in his chest. 

“Who next?” He repeated, snarling angrily and Kate laughed, turning her attention to the pack. 

“He didn’t feel that one either, mustn’t have bonded with her, but I bet he’s got some attachment to his little sister, bet there’s a good bond there. Hey Cora, how’ve you been? You’ve grown up some since I last saw you. Especially considering you were supposed to have been burned alive in that fire.” Kate smirked, moving to Cora who was standing next to Derek, “Stiles, meet Cora, Cora, meet Stiles. He’s going to kill you now.” She smiled and Stiles was still standing in place, his entire body almost vibrating with rage, he looked to be in physical pain and part of Derek wanted to comfort him, but the other, much larger part, saw Stiles as the person who was going to destroy his pack, who was going to kill them all, any loyalty he had to Stiles had vanished the instant Noah’s heart had stopped. Stiles was only a threat now, Derek couldn’t allow himself to feel any pity, he had to try and fight him, however he could, if he got the chance, he had to take Stiles out. “Stiles. Here.” Kate snapped and Stiles moved, taking a few steps forward so he was stood directly in front of Derek. “I want you to look at him, look him in the eyes. I want you to witness the instant he sees their bond break, the second he realises she’s dead and that you killed her. Then you’ll see what a monster he is. Got it?” 

“Yes master.” Stiles muttered, “Can she speak? Say her last words?” 

“Oh, that’s cute, wanting her to have a chance to say goodbye to the brother that helped me kill their entire family. Sure. Let her speak.” Kate chuckled and Cora glared at her and Stiles before turning to look at Derek. 

“The fire wasn’t your fault Derek. This isn’t your fault either. I love you big brother.” 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Derek said, feeling like he was about to break, he’d only just found her again, he couldn’t lose her. 

“I didn’t say he could speak!” Kate hissed, smacking Stiles hard around the head and Stiles winced before Derek was mute again. “Do it!” She growled and Stiles moved forwards, not breaking eye contact with Derek as he raised his fingers to Cora’s forehead.

“Don’t fight it Cora, it’ll hurt more if you fight.” Stiles whispered, Derek watched as Cora bared her teeth at Stiles, growling at him threateningly, it made no difference, a moment later she dropped to the ground lifeless, her heart had stopped, their bond was broken, his sister was dead. Derek felt it snap and it felt like something inside him had broken too, he wanted to clutch at the sharp, bright, hole in his chest, as if that would somehow hold him together, but, he couldn’t even move, the pain, the grief, was so raw it was almost overwhelming, and this was only the beginning. He was going to feel this over and over, as one-by-one his pack was wiped out, killed by Stiles. The person he’d thought he could trust. 

“Scott’s right. You are a monster.” Derek growled out in between the waves of grief and for the briefest moment Stiles looked almost distraught by those words before his face went blank and he turned to Kate, awaiting instructions. 

“Did you see it? The second poor Der-bear felt that bond break, wasn’t that just the most incredible feeling? Knowing you’d caused him to suffer like that? That he was in that much pain because of you. God, I knew we could make a killer out of you kid, you just needed the right motivation, didn’t you? I’m so proud of you right now. Keep up like this and I might even reward you.” She grinned. “I’ll let you pick the next one.” She said and Stiles looked like he was going to be sick as he moved towards Peter. “Perfect, but, no last words from now on. We’ve taken long enough, somebody else could turn up at any point. Make it short and sweet.” 

“Please don’t.” Derek whispered and Stiles shot him one last look, for a brief second he swore Stiles looked guilty before his features twisted into something distorted, filled with hatred, so unlike the Stiles he’d known. 

“You should all listen to me.” Stiles muttered as he moved towards Peter, “Don’t fight it. It will only hurt more.” He said before he reached forward and Peter fell to the floor. 

“No. No.” Derek muttered in agony as the bond broke.

“Don’t stop now kid, you’re on a roll.” Kate laughed as one-by-one, Stiles moved around the pack, each member dropping to the ground dead from the briefest touch of his fingers, their bonds snapping and breaking as they fell and Derek couldn’t even breathe, the pain was overwhelming, even if Stiles wasn’t holding him in place with magic he wasn’t sure he’d be able to move. 

Derek thought Kate might have spared Chris, spared her brother, but, apparently, he was contaminated, he’d spent too long in the company of werewolves, she taunted Chris repeatedly about how she was stronger than him, that she was going to be the one to wipe out all werewolves, that with Stiles by her side, she was unstoppable. Chris had looked like he wanted to rip her apart limb by limb and then do the same to Stiles, but, he couldn’t even speak, he just glared at her with hatred as Stiles reached out, touched his fingers to his forehead and caught him as he dropped to the ground. Derek let out a cry of pain as that bond broke, unable to believe that even Chris wouldn’t be shown any mercy, his entire pack was going to die, and it was going to be because of Stiles. He wasn’t sure he’d ever hated anybody more in his life.

“Wait, oh, wait, he looks angry, let’s hear what he has to say before you kill him for me.” Kate said excitedly when Stiles reached Scott, Stiles twitched his fingers and Scott opened his mouth. 

“I will never, ever forgive you for this. You murdered my mom. You’re a monster. You disgust me and the world would be a better place if you’d died instead of your mom. She should have killed you when you were younger. I wish she had succeeded. I wish I’d never met you. I wish you had died years ago like you were supposed to. You’re evil.” Scott spat angrily and Stiles looked stricken for the briefest moment before he nodded in acceptance, as if he’d taken Scott’s comments on board before turning to Kate. 

“You want me do the same to him now?” He asked and Kate grinned maliciously. 

“Oh yeah, now you can kill him. I can’t wait to hear his heart stop.” She smirked and Stiles nodded.

“Scotty, you have no idea how sorry I am, trust me.” Stiles muttered quietly, under his breath, barely loud enough for Scott to hear even when Stiles was only inches away from him, he doubted anybody else could hear it, but it made no difference, Stiles was going to kill him, it didn’t matter that he was apologising, Stiles had killed his mom, killed the pack and was going to kill him. 

“It’s Scott. Only my friends call me Scotty, and you are no friend to me, you’re nothing to me, you bastard. I hope the rest of your life is filled with all the pain she can possibly imagine to inflict on you, you fucking deserve it.” Scott cursed and Stiles nodded, staring at the floor rather than looking at Scott, stepping forwards and pressing his fingers to Scott’s forehead, his eyes rolled backwards and he collapsed and Allison let out a sob from next to him, trembling in grief as she looked at Stiles and then at Kate, glaring daggers at both of them. 

“That was fun, sorry about your little werewolf boyfriend honey, but you had to know it was going to happen at some point, sooner or later.” Kate laughed.

“Leave her alone.” Derek growled, he never thought he’d be defending an Argent, never mind from another Argent. Allison was the last member of his pack left alive, their bond felt like it was the last thing that was keeping Derek going, he didn’t want to lose her too, god, he couldn’t bear this, “Stiles, please, please don’t do this, I’m begging you, please.” 

“Your choice Allison, you don’t have to die. In fact, I’ll give you a different option, come with us. You can leave here alive Allison, all you have to do is kill Derek.” Kate said and Allison glanced to Derek. For one second Allison thought Stiles looked almost panicked and she wasn’t sure what that was about but she couldn’t think about it right now, all she could think was that everyone she loved was dead, that she was going to die too. She couldn’t deny it, she was scared. 

“It’s okay Ally, one of us needs to make it out of here alive.” Derek said and Allison swallowed loudly before gritting her teeth and glaring at Kate, she might be scared, but she wasn’t scared enough that she would kill Derek. 

“I’d rather die than betray Derek, because he’s a million times better than you, you will never be a good, decent, human being. You’re a monster, both of you are. I’d never do anything for you. I’m not that weak.” She said directly to Stiles and he stared at the ground, refusing to meet her gaze. “Go ahead and kill me Stiles. Go ahead. You’ve killed everyone I care about. You’ve killed the people I love. My dad, Scott, Melissa, Lydia, Jackson…the entire pack is dead because of you. What’s one more, right?” She said and for a split second she thought she saw relief on Stiles’ features but it was gone just as quickly, instead he grimaced as she reeled off the list of names of her dead pack.

“It’s a shame, you would have made a great hunter, but I guess I can’t make everyone see sense. I want her dead too Stiles.” Kate said and Stiles nodded, stepping forwards and pressing his fingers to her forehead, Derek felt the last bond break and he felt like somebody had ripped his heart out, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he was sure if he had use of his body his legs would have buckled, his pack were dead, he’d lost everybody all over again. 

“What now?” Stiles mumbled, moving away from Allison as Kate walked towards Derek smirking at the agony she saw in his features. 

“The question now is what do we do with you Derek? I could let you live, let you live with the agony that you lost another pack, that you can’t protect anybody you care about. But, the thought of getting Stiles to kill you, ohhhhh,” She smiled, “That just makes me so excited, the thought of you dead, at Stiles’ hands, I just, god, it makes me so horny.” She said and Stiles looked revolted. 

“If you let me live I swear to god you best be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life, because I am going to hunt you down, I will never stop looking for you and I will do everything in my power to kill you, both of you, you’ll both die painfully.” Derek snarled.

“I could keep you alive as a pet, that could be fun, I wonder how long you’d last before you broke? Breaking you could be fun, in fact, I could have a lot of fun with it. Nearly as much fun as I have trying to break Stiles here, not that you care, since you’re so willing to kill him now, since he murdered your pack and everything, funny really isn’t it? You are standing helpless in front of the people who murdered both of your packs and you were stupid enough to trust both of us.” She taunted.

“We should kill him.” Stiles muttered and Derek stared at him, what the hell had Kate done to him in the past year that he was so willing to kill? He just couldn’t understand it. 

“Don’t tell me you actually think he’s a threat?” Kate laughed and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“Obviously not. But you’d get bored. You know you would. You want him dead, just like the others. Keep him around if you want, but you liked his defiance, you break him, you won’t have that anymore. You might as well kill him now, while he still has hatred in his eyes.” Stiles said and Kate grinned, gripping his chin slightly as Stiles continued, “Sure, you could keep him, watch him break, but where would be the fun in that for you? Or you could have me kill him, like I did with the others, and you can watch as that fact torments me for the rest of my life, hell, it’s not like I can even kill myself now! Keep him around, and in the end, it’ll be a mercy for him to die. It won’t torment me. He’ll be broken and I’ll put him out of his misery. Get me to kill him like the others, and it’ll do so much more damage. You know that.”

“You’re such a good boy for me, you know what, you’re right, killing him is much more preferable, but he needs to suffer. The others got off easy, I want him to suffer, I want you to make it hurt, make sure he feels it, that he gets to feel agony as he dies and know that you are the one to cause it, after all Derek, we both know you had a soft spot for the stupid little human, why do you think my daddy went after him in the first place? Now you get to know that you failed him too, you turned him into this monster, you abandoned him and never gave him a second thought, and, now, he’s going to be the one to kill you, because he’s a monster now, the man responsible for murdering your entire pack.” She said, grinning from ear to ear and Stiles simply nodded, stepping towards Derek. 

“I don’t know how you can live with yourself after what you’ve done.” Derek muttered and Stiles shrugged. He wanted to know what Stiles meant about Derek’s death tormenting him for the rest of his life, but he figured Stiles deserved to be tormented. He’d murdered his father and then Derek’s pack, and now he would kill Derek too. He deserved everything that came to him, he wasn’t the person Derek had known, wasn’t the person he had trusted. 

“I can’t.” Stiles said, so casually that it took Derek by surprise, as if Stiles longed for death, well, he had been willing to kill himself earlier, so, maybe it shouldn’t have been such a surprise, still, Derek wished he was strong enough to break through Stiles’ magic, to kill him for murdering his pack. Stiles reached out, putting a hand on Derek’s arm and Derek felt like his entire body had been electrocuted, he arched in pain, screaming in agony, he saw Kate’s face light up with glee and then everything went black and he fell to the ground, death claiming him. 

Kate stared at the bodies littering the ground, hearing Derek Hale’s heart stop beating had been exhilarating, she’d been thinking about it for so long, it was, god, and to have Stiles be the one to do it, well, that made it a million times better. 

“I’m going to have so much fun with you later.” She said, leaning in and licking up Stiles’ neck and across his jaw, smirking at the way Stiles clenched his jaw and tried to lean away from her touch as much as he could, “Oh poor baby, did killing them upset you?” 

“I did what you wanted Kate, you wanted to hear their hearts stop, wanted to see them lying dead on the ground in front of you, now you have, it’s done, what more do you want from me?” Stiles snapped. 

“I want everything from you Stiles, and, tonight, tonight I’m going to get you to give me everything I want, considering we’ve figured out your weakness now, so willing to make sure they don’t suffer, I should have figured this out months ago, you care about people way too much, much more than they ever cared about you. Boys, pack your things up, we’re rolling out in two.” Kate ordered, bending down and running a claw along Derek’s chest, “I think I’m going to take his heart.”

“What’s the point?” Stiles sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes impatiently, and Kate turned to look at him. 

“So that everyone will know.” She replied simply. 

“How? I mean, it’s just going to look like another heart to anybody else, isn’t it? It’s not like anybody is actually going to know it is Derek’s heart. You could have just ripped it out of some random stranger on the street.” Stiles said in annoyance and Kate glared at him. 

“You think people will doubt my word?” She said, rising from where she’d crouched next to Derek and taking a step towards Stiles threateningly. 

“I’m saying nobody is going to know it’s Derek’s heart. But, yeah, honestly, I’d doubt your word, you go back on it often enough.” He snapped angrily and Kate stormed forward, punching Stiles hard across the face, his legs very nearly buckled under the force of it and he was sure he heard something crack, but he had to keep her attention on him, it was the only way. 

“I told you to never argue with me.” Kate sneered, already turning back towards Derek, pressing her claws in to his chest, Stiles panicked, straightening up as quickly as he could and thinking of how to distract her, quickly.

“Yeah well, I’m not good at following orders, I thought you’d figured that out by now too. Or are you that stupid?” Stiles called after her, he saw her eyes flash and knew that whatever happened next was going to hurt, but it was worth it. Kate spun towards him, bringing her leg up and kicking him so hard in the stomach that he flew backwards a few feet and hit the ground coughing for breath, he’d wanted to move, hell, he’d wanted to fight, but, he hadn’t been able to and, so long as he kept her attention on him, maybe there was a chance. “Seriously? Your dad hits harder than that.” Stiles taunted and Kate roared, grabbing him by the hair and punching him hard in the face, Stiles saw stars but, still, it was working, his plan was working, “Are you done with the warm up?” He asked and Kate lost it. He felt her claws tear into his flesh, felt blood spilling from the injuries, felt bones snap and break under the beating and still she kept going, Stiles collapsed to the ground and didn’t have the strength to get back up as Kate kicked at him and all the air was knocked from his lungs. He felt blood dripping into his eyes, heard Kate’s growls as she continued her attack, rage driving her to be more brutal than usual, Stiles knew exactly how much she hated when he compared her to her father, he knew exactly which buttons to press to make her lose her mind, it was one of the things he’d picked up in the last year, exactly what to avoid discussing unless he wanted to be beaten worse than usual. He could feel that he was on the edge of blacking out, that he would soon be granted the sweet oblivion that he had yearned for so desperately and just as he thought it was nearly over, Kate stilled in her movements. 

“You think you’re so fucking smart, don’t you?” She growled from somewhere nearby and Stiles opened his eyes slowly, gasping in pain as his lungs didn’t seem capable of sucking in any air, he could see Kate standing above him, panting from the exertion of his beating, but, still looking triumphant, “You don’t get out of it that easy. You’re going to heal yourself, just enough that you don’t die, but that’s it. You’re not going to die from your injuries but you’re going to wish you had.” She snarled and Stiles groaned in grief as he felt his magic obeying her, he was healing, he’d been so close, so close to bringing an end to it all. He managed to get to his feet unsteadily, his entire body protesting at the movement, blood was still dripping down into his eye and there was more on his neck, arms and chest, but, he wasn’t going to die from it even if it felt like he was, which meant he had to get up and get moving, even as exhaustion swept through him at using so much of his magic, he needed to sleep, to rest, to recover. 

He stumbled towards the large winnebago that was parked at the entrance, Kate behind him every step of the way, pulling on his hair or kicking at the back of his legs, laughing as he did his best to keep himself upright, he was in so much pain but it was his own fault, he should have known Kate would have seen through his attempt to get her to kill him instead of being able to do it himself. He glanced back at the graveyard, thinking about the bodies that littered the ground there, knowing that there was no coming back for him now, he’d said his goodbyes and there was nothing left to tie him to here, he could never come back. The doors of the van shut with a finality behind him and Stiles felt all hope leave him, he would never be free of her, he would die one day, no doubt far in the future, after a lifetime of pain, just as Scott had wished.


	3. Chapter 3

Derek wasn’t sure what death was supposed to feel like, but he was almost certain it wasn’t supposed to feel like this. The instant Stiles had touched him he’d been overwhelmed with pain and he couldn’t believe that his body was capable of even feeling that amount of pain and then he’d collapsed, and everything had gone black. He’d thought that was it, the end, that his life was over and it had come to an end at the hands of someone he’d actually thought he could trust, that he’d thought he’d been in love with, it was just his luck really. 

But, instead of the blackness he’d been expecting he’d found himself lay on the ground, the grass damp under his back, he could still hear Kate and Stiles talking, could feel Kate trailing her claws along his chest and he was terrified, his heart beating rapidly in his chest – or it felt like it at least, was this something Stiles had done to him? Was he going to have to feel it as Kate tore his heart from his chest? Had Stiles trapped him in his body? Would he be left there long after his heart had been ripped out? 

What if this was death? No after life, no Heaven, no Hell, just this. He’d have to bear witness as the pack was found, as his post-mortem was carried out, as he was buried underground, god, this was the worst fucking punishment he had ever experienced. He’d fought as hard as he could, tried to get something to happen, to twitch his fingers, to do anything, but nothing happened other than a great pain flooding through his body, he realised this was what Stiles meant when he said it would only hurt if they fought it, how did Stiles know what death felt like? Had he been here himself? Left paralyzed and trapped in his own dead body? Derek didn’t know the answers, he just knew it hurt to fight, so he stopped trying, waiting to feel his heart being ripped out by Kate’s claws.

Except then Kate’s hand vanished from his chest and he heard as Stiles spoke to her, almost taunting her into losing her control, Derek would have warned him that he was going to end up getting hurt but he was dead because of Stiles so he wasn’t exactly feeling forgiving, yes, okay, he knew Stiles had been kidnapped, had been tortured, had been beaten and abused and because of that he’d obviously lost his way between right and wrong. Stiles thought he had no choice but to obey Kate and he’d killed his father, his friends, because of it, so, yeah, Derek could understand Stiles wasn’t the same Stiles he’d known, except, the pack were all dead and Derek was trapped like this and it was because of Stiles so Derek wasn’t exactly moved when Kate lashed out and beat Stiles, part of him even thought that Stiles deserved it, he silenced that thought instantly, Stiles was just caught up in a mess that he should have never been involved in, that he wouldn’t have been in if Derek had looked for him. 

He could hear Stiles’ bones breaking, smell his blood in the air and still Kate carried on, Derek felt pity for Stiles, pity that he’d had to go through it, but, he also felt justified, that it was right Stiles suffered when the pack were all dead because of him, that Stiles had killed them. He’d been surprised that Stiles had been hoping Kate was going to kill him, he couldn’t imagine what Stiles must have been through in the past year that he would wish for death so openly, and as much as Derek despised him for killing the pack, he still remembered the Stiles that he’d known, the one that had fought by his side time after time and he wished for a quick death for him, that Stiles would be put out of his misery too, except it didn’t happen, Kate told him to heal and he did, Stiles stumbling to his feet, whimpering with pain as he left the graveyard, Kate following directly after him and then there was only silence. 

He didn’t know how long he lay there, he fully expected to lay there until somebody came to the cemetery, found their bodies, called the cops, told them about the mass murder in the church yard, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, some indeterminable time later, Derek felt whatever power that had being holding him in place snap and he gasped upright, sucking in a breath in surprise, checking himself over in disbelief, feeling his heart beating rapidly under his fingertips, he was alive, he just didn’t know how. 

He looked around, amazed to see everyone else sitting up and looking around equally stunned, moving forwards and hugging their loved ones, clinging to them with tears in their eyes, unable to believe that they were somehow still alive. 

“Mom, oh god, thank god!” Scott said, hugging her tightly as Melissa clung on to Scott with tears in her eyes, glancing at Noah who seemed to be processing what had happened, he looked like he was freaking out and Derek didn’t blame the man, he was kind of freaking out himself. Cora was clinging tightly to his side while Peter clung to his other side, the rest of the pack gathering around him as Derek did his best to reassure them and himself, even as his mind was racing and his heart beating so loudly he was sure it was going to burst from his chest. 

“How are we alive?” Jackson muttered and everyone shrugged, none of them being able to figure out how they were still breathing, how their hearts were still beating. 

“Were you all…did you all feel the same thing? Like you were trapped in your bodies? You could still hear and feel? And the pain? If you fought to move, there was pain?” Derek asked and there were nods from the pack, it was obvious that whatever had happened had something to do with Stiles’ magic, they just didn’t know what or how or what it meant. 

“Stiles.” Noah whispered, standing up from the ground and moving towards the entrance of the graveyard, only being stopped by Scott’s hand on his arm. 

“He tried to kill us Noah, we shouldn’t go looking for him. You heard him. We’re the enemy. He’s with Kate now.” Scott said and Noah looked infuriated, pulling his arm out of Scott’s grip and glaring at him. 

“How many times did my son lie to me to protect you? To protect me from finding out about all of this? How many times did he risk his life in an attempt to keep you safe? And at the first sign of trouble, you give up on him? You left him with her! You abandoned him and now you call him the enemy!?” Noah snapped and Scott looked to the ground in guilt. 

“I’m not going to deny we let him down sir, but, that’s not the same Stiles we knew, the Stiles we knew is long gone. Kate took something from him. She’s changed him. He’s the enemy now.” Isaac said and Noah turned to look at him. 

“Yet, somehow, despite those beatings, despite the warnings that if he disobeys, he gets hurt, we’re all still alive when she told him to kill us!” Noah replied and they were all speechless. “Look, I’m not going to pretend I know all the ins and outs of this werewolf crap, that I’m going to know everything straight away, but I know my son, and that was still my son, doing his best to protect us. To keep us safe. He was willing to kill himself to make sure he didn’t go back to her. He’s scared. He’s terrified. And that bitch is hurting him, trying to make him into something he’s not. And he still protected us. He still kept us alive. And he still managed to get me a message.” Noah said and they all stilled. 

“A message? What kind of message?” Lydia asked in curiosity and Noah stared at the pack surrounding him.

“If I tell you, you have to promise, you’re going to stop this ridiculous train of thought that Stiles is your enemy. You are going to help me get him back or so help me…” Noah said and the pack all looked to Derek. 

“I can’t say that sir. I get that Stiles was kidnapped and tortured and he’s obviously been through hell if he’s siding with Kate, and that’s my fault, I failed him, but, his magic, he has the ability to make us all powerless, helpless, without even flinching. Until I know he’s not going to use that power against us again, he has to be treated as the enemy. I can’t risk losing my pack again because I decide to trust him.” Derek explained. 

“The only reason you haven’t already lost your pack is because of him!” Noah snapped and Derek gritted his teeth. 

“I know that, but maybe he felt like being compassionate just this once, for old times’ sake. There’s no saying what would happen if we run into him again in the future.” Derek argued, “I know you don’t want to think that Stiles is gone, but, you heard him, we’re the enemy, we’re the monsters, no matter what Kate has done to make him like this, he’s changed, he’s a threat to all of us.”

“He’s not! That’s what he was trying to tell me! It wasn’t him doing this! You heard him, he begged for her not to do this, that he’d stop fighting her if she spared us!”

“Yeah and then he attempted to kill us.” Allison said. 

“He didn’t! If he was trying to kill us, we would all be dead! There was no way we could have stopped him. If he’d wanted to kill us, we would be dead.” Noah shouted. 

“Noah, what message do you think he was trying to give you?” Melissa asked softly and Noah smiled, looking at her in relief, here was somebody that would believe him, that would be on his side, that would understand.

“The game, the game him and his mom used to play.” He said excitedly. 

“What about it?” 

“They used to play this stupid game, a way of passing secret messages. I never got the hang of it, but god, Stiles and Claudia, they’d play it all the time, I used to say they had the same brain, but, once Claudia died, well, I’d tried to play it once and Stiles threw the biggest tantrum, he didn’t speak for days and we never played again. One of them would say a number and then they’d say a sentence and the words in that sentence would make another sentence, but it was only with sentences that started with ‘I’ and Stiles was so good at it, so, he told me to count to two and make a wish…”

“Meaning that every second word in the sentences starting with ‘I’ would make another message?” Lydia asked. 

“Exactly! So the first sentence it’s words, one, three, five etc and for every sentence after that it’s words two, four, six. That’s how they always used to play it.” 

“So what did Stiles say?” Melissa asked looking equally terrified and hopeful, that maybe the boy she had helped to raise as a second son hadn’t become so twisted, so messed up that he thought cold-blooded murder was the only option to spare them, that maybe there was still hope for him.

“He said ‘I have no choice, she’s forcing me. Magic can’t. Fight her. Control magic and me. You’re going to be fine. I’m sorry.’” Noah said and the pack looked at each other in uncertainty. 

“So, he thinks he hasn’t got a choice in this? Because he knows he’ll be punished if he misbehaves?” Melissa asked and they all flinched at the word ‘punished’, Derek wasn’t sure he’d ever forget the sight of Kate driving those knives through Stiles’ arm. 

“Possibly, and Kate has some kind of invulnerability to magic? That’s why Stiles can’t fight her?” Isaac added.

“No, I think, I think it’s more than that.” Derek said feeling suddenly sick to his stomach, if what he was thinking was correct then Stiles wasn’t helping Kate, he was a prisoner, “We need to go and see Deaton.” 

“What? Why?” Noah asked, “We should be out looking for them.” 

“Deaton knows more than any of us about magic.” Chris explained, “And, honestly, I don’t feel like going up against Stiles again until we have some way to neutralise that magic, if Kate has some kind of invulnerability to it, we need it too before we face them again.” 

“But they’re getting further away.” Noah pleaded. 

“Maybe, maybe not. They could decide to stay in town, in which case we need to keep under the radar. All I’m saying is, until we know which side Stiles is on, we may want to keep up the pretence that he killed all of us in case Kate decides to track us down and do the job herself this time.” Chris continued and Noah looked annoyed but nodded his head in agreement, following Derek and the pack back towards the cars and driving across to Deaton’s clinic. 

Erica, Boyd, Scott and Jackson did their best to fill Noah in on everything that had happened on the drive over there, Noah’s head was spinning more than a little bit if he was honest, he was still trying to process that werewolves were real, that his son had magic, that there were such things as hunters and kanima’s and Alpha packs and all kind of things that went bump in the night. It explained so much, so many cases left unsolved because of the supernatural element in them. It was ridiculous. But, right now, the supernatural craziness wasn’t his biggest priority, all he could think about was that Stiles was in trouble, his son was in danger, spending time with a mad woman who was hurting him for fun and Stiles was so messed up about it that he wasn’t even trying to fight her anymore for fear of punishment, he had to help him. 

He was so frustrated, he wanted to be searching for Stiles, he knew if he could just talk to his son without Kate around, he’d be able to get through to him, he could make him see sense, that Kate was trying to turn him into something he wasn’t, that all he had to do was stand up to her one time and he’d realise she didn’t have any power over him, that they would protect him from her, he just needed to speak to Stiles. Instead they were going to the veterinary clinic where Alan Deaton worked, the man would supposedly have all the knowledge about magic and what Stiles meant, Derek seemed convinced that there was more to Stiles’ message and he was desperate to know what it was, what the other man suspected. 

“Derek.” Deaton said in greeting, his mouth dropping open in shock when the entire pack piled in behind him, he stared at Noah in surprise, his eyes widening, “Sheriff Stilinski, I wasn’t aware that you were, um, that you were…”

“Alive?” Noah finished and Deaton flushed before nodding. 

“Deaton, we can talk about that later, right now, I need to know, magic, can it be controlled?” Derek asked.

“Controlled? Of course it can. That’s what spells are for…”

“No. I mean, can somebody else control it? Like, you have magic, is there any way….could somebody else control you?” He pressed. 

“Derek what are you talking about?” Scott said. 

“Stiles! The message said ‘magic can’t fight her’, Noah thought it meant that Kate did something to make her immune to Stiles’ magic, but, I don’t think that’s what he meant, it’s not that. I think she’s controlling him, he has orders, he called her master. She made him repeat his orders, remember? She is forcing his magic to do things and he can’t fight her orders, he said that ‘control magic and me’ as in, Kate is controlling him, she’s ordering him to do things and he can’t disobey. I know Stiles. He wouldn’t just agree to do what she said, he’s too stubborn for that. She has to be controlling him.” Derek said and everyone stilled. 

“Hang on, Stiles is with Kate Argent?” Deaton asked for clarification, “And you think he has magic?” 

“Yes and yes!” Derek said impatiently. 

“Do you think that Kate and Stiles are the hunter and caster that I’ve heard about? The ones travelling the country and killing anyone who looks in their direction?” Deaton asked and Derek was speechless, he hadn’t thought about that, he’d thought it was just a rumour, but, wasn’t that exactly what had happened?

“I don’t know? Maybe?” He replied. 

“And you think that Kate is somehow controlling his magic?” He queried. 

“Yes. Now, tell me, is it possible?” 

“Theoretically, I suppose, it could be possible, yes, maybe, I’m not sure, I can’t say it’s something I’ve ever looked in to, after all, why would I want to know if there was a way for somebody else to control me? I’ve never heard of it being done, but I wouldn’t say it would be impossible, I can research in to it and come back to you in a few days?” Deaton replied and Derek felt like punching the man. 

“If there’s a way to do it, Kate or Gerard will have found a way to do it.” Allison said and Chris nodded in agreement.

“That’s ridiculous.” Scott scoffed, “I mean, he chose to kill us! I’m not saying he’s not being like coerced into it or whatever, but he made that choice. He decided to kill us.” 

“But he didn’t!” Lydia replied heatedly, looking like she was having an epiphany, “Kate said that Stiles would kill us, or, he would hold us still while she did it. He chose to kill us himself, to stop her from doing it, and, Noah’s right, we’re all still alive. Derek’s right. Kate has control over him, she’s forcing him, controlling him. You heard Stiles, before Kate got there, he said he had to kill himself, to protect you, protect all of us. She, I don’t know how she’s done it, but, somehow, Kate has control over Stiles, he’s not working with her, he’s her prisoner.” 

“That makes sense.” Allison said, “When Kate gave me the option to kill Derek and live, he looked almost worried, and then when I said I wouldn’t, he looked relieved, I think, I mean it was only a split second, and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, I’m still not sure if I was, but, I think, he didn’t want me to kill Derek, because he knew if I killed him, it would actually kill him, whereas if he did it, we’d survive…” She concluded.

The room was silent, all of them looking troubled at the idea that Kate was controlling Stiles, Scott looked like he was going to be physically sick, tears filling his eyes. 

“Oh god, he was trying to tell me, he called me Scotty, he said to trust him, and I didn’t, he was trying to tell me he’s still in there and, god, I said, I said awful things to him, I said he should have died, I said I hoped she carried on hurting him.” Scott said, breaking into tears as his mom wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close to her. 

“It’s okay Scott.”

“No, it’s not, how can it be? My best friend was shot and kidnapped and held prisoner for over a year and I didn’t know about it, I didn’t remember that Sofia was a fucking codeword! It’s all my fault! This is on me. He’s being forced to do things he doesn’t want to do and I called him a monster, I told him that his mom should have killed him, that it should have been him, Jesus, I need to find him, I need to apologise, I need to tell him he’s still my best friend, that I love him, that he’s not a monster and we didn’t abandon him.” Scott said, moving towards the door. 

“We need to have a plan.” Peter said, stepping into Scott’s path and blocking his way, “Stiles has given us an advantage, right now she thinks we’re dead, if we go barrelling after them without any kind of plan, she’ll know we’re alive and she’ll make sure we are actually dead this time, and if Stiles doesn’t get her to kill him beforehand...” 

“Stiles wasn’t trying to get her to kill him.” Erica muttered and they all looked at her in surprise, “I mean, I don’t think it was just that, I guess he was maybe thinking it would be a bonus if she did, but, I think, I think he was protecting Derek. Kate was going to rip your heart out and then Stiles distracted her, and she forgot all about you.” Erica surmised and Derek felt like he was going to be sick, “He did the same thing with Gerard, protecting us from him by keeping the attention on himself, no matter what pain he was in, if they were hurting him, it meant that Boyd and I were safe.” She whispered and that was enough to send Derek over the edge, he ran for the bathroom, only just making it in time as his stomach rolled and he threw up violently.

Stiles was a prisoner, Stiles was under Kate’s control and she’d very nearly beaten him to death and Derek had wanted it to happen, thought that Stiles deserved it for killing his pack, except Stiles was still the same person, he was still trying to protect them from Kate and they had shown him nothing but hatred and disgust in return, he needed to fix this, he needed to come up with some way to help Stiles before it was too late. He would never forgive himself for this, he should have realised, he should have known that Stiles would have never hurt his dad or Melissa or Scott, no matter what Kate had done to him. 

“We need more information. Do a recon.” Chris said and Noah nodded in agreement as Derek returned from the bathroom, his hands trembling, his face pale and his eyes glowing dangerously. 

“There’s no time for that, she’s holding Stiles prisoner. We need to get him away from her.” Derek said angrily. 

“Yes, we do, but, we can’t, not yet, not until we find a way to break her hold over him.” Lydia said rationally and then she paused, “How did she find him? I mean, if he ran away or escaped or whatever, with the intention of killing himself, how did she find him? She knew exactly where he was, she ordered him to stop before he could finish it, before he could end it, break her hold over him, so, how did she find him? Is it some kind of magic?”

“I bet she’s got a tracker in him.” Chris said, “She always used to do it when we were little, but I assume this won’t be as simple as planted in his bag or something, it’ll be under his skin somewhere, a way to track him that he’ll never be able to get out.” 

“That she’s probably ordered him to never take out.” Boyd muttered angrily and there was more silence as everyone processed that thought, they’d let Stiles down so badly, they should have insisted that they speak to him, see him, they should have searched for him, they should have done something. They’d seen the picture of his stomach, his injuries from Gerard, the bruises, but, Kate had probably taken that photo, made sure they didn’t see the bullet wound in his chest, made sure that they thought he was hurt enough that he never wanted anything to do with them again, and, Derek, god, he’d never looked for Stiles, he’d never made certain that he was okay, and Kate, she’d, she’d tortured Stiles, told him they hadn’t even called, hadn’t looked for him, hadn’t cared about him, except, still, Stiles had protected them, saved them. Derek couldn’t believe he’d ever doubted Stiles, he couldn’t believe that he had ever done anything that deserved Stiles’ loyalty in the first place.

“I need to get to him, I need to…” Derek started, not sure what he was going to say, he needed to help Stiles. He needed to get him away from her. He needed to do something. Anything. He needed to tell Stiles he was sorry, that he wasn’t a monster, that Derek would help him. Derek didn’t know what he needed to do, his mind was racing, he was trying to think of a plan, but there was no help from Stiles’ voice in his head, all he could think, all he could see, was Stiles standing in front of him, Kate touching him, hitting him, stabbing him and Stiles had still done whatever she ordered. Derek was a mess, he couldn’t think, the room was spinning, everyone was looking at him in panic, but he didn’t know what to do, how was he supposed to save Stiles? How was he supposed to help him? Derek had failed him and surely Stiles hated him for never looking for him, god, what was happening to him? He was falling apart, he couldn’t breathe. 

“Derek, breathe,” Noah was standing in front of him, a hand resting against his chest and his other against his back, “Breathe with me.” The man said, taking an over-exaggerated breath and then letting it out slowly, Derek copied the movements as best he could until, eventually, his breathing evened out and he nodded gratefully at Noah. “Stiles used to have panic attacks too, you’ll be fine.” 

“Thank you.” He muttered quietly, unable to imagine Stiles going through that, he wished he’d kept Stiles close, kept him safe, instead Derek had let him down. 

“So, um, Stiles meant a lot to you then?” Noah asked suspiciously and Derek nodded. 

“He means a lot to me.” He corrected Noah, admitting it out loud felt right, he’d let Stiles down, so many times that he’d lost count, but he couldn’t continue to deny that Stiles mattered to him, he would always matter to him. “We need to save him.” He said with determination, a plan beginning to form in his mind, “Deaton, I want you to give any books you have on magic to Lydia. Lydia, I want you to lead the pack in research duty, you need to find any mentions of magic being controlled by another person, we can’t save Stiles until we know a way to break whatever spell Kate has him under, so I need you to find something. Chris, you said you think she put a tracker in him, is there any way you could hack in to her system or put some feelers out and find out where she is or something?” 

“Maybe.” Chris replied. 

“Great, get on it. As soon as you have Stiles’ location, we’re going to do some recon, maybe we can find out what she’s done to trap him.” 

“I’m coming with you.” Noah said and Derek looked at him before nodding, there was no point in arguing with the man, the determination in his eyes reminded him so much of Stiles, he knew he’d made up his mind and there would be no dissuading him. 

“Okay, let’s get to it. We’re going to save Stiles.” He said confidently, they would find a way to save Stiles, he was certain of it. 

It took Chris two weeks before an old friend got in touch with him, telling him the serial number for the tracker implanted in Stiles, it was under strictest instructions that Chris didn’t get the information from him and Chris had agreed repeatedly before logging in to his account and starting the trace. 

In those two weeks Noah was pretty sure he had been going out of his mind, his home had been repossessed by the bank to pay his medical bills and he’d wound up staying at the Hale house with the pack. In all fairness he wanted to be there so that he was there the instant something happened with Stiles, but, the fact he’d lost his home was horrendous, thankfully Melissa had cleared out most of their stuff before it was repossessed and she’d kept it in a storage locker in town. He’d gone to get some clothes one day and spent the next few hours sobbing brokenly as he looked at a picture of Claudia, Stiles and him, Claudia was dead and Stiles, his poor boy, his son was being held captive, a prisoner of a woman who would show him no mercy, who would force him to do things that he would never want to do otherwise. 

Everyone had spent those two weeks fussing over Noah and it was slowly driving him insane, the only one who acted halfway normal towards him was Derek, and Noah was certain that was because Derek was too lost in his own thoughts to be able to think about Noah. Noah didn’t think Derek was doing it on purpose but it was obvious that the man cared greatly for Stiles and the thought of him being Kate’s prisoner made Derek act oddly to say the least, he would go through two or three books a day, determined to find something to help Stiles, and, when they turned out to be useless, he’d turn into an actual wolf and go out running just to try and stop the urge of fighting with someone pointlessly in an attempt to distract himself. 

Scott said they were all hovering around Noah because he shared a similar scent to Stiles and although it wasn’t exactly the same it was close enough to offer them all some comfort. Noah had said it was fine for them all to sniff him occasionally but only if they told him as much as they could about everything Stiles had kept from him, he was determined to get his son back and when he did he wanted to make sure there were no more secrets between them. Erica and Boyd had told him their entire life stories just so that they could stay closer to him for longer and Noah wondered just how close they’d been with Stiles that they were that affected by some semblance of Stiles’ scent.

He thought that he was processing the whole ‘werewolves are real and so is everything else’ thing quite well, he knew there was still a lot he needed to learn, but, if was completely honest, he felt like they were all in the same boat. Derek had become Alpha and didn’t know how most things worked, Peter had known about werewolves all his life but he’d never had to think about pack dynamics, his pack had just been there, they’d always just been there, Cora had been without a pack for so long that she sometimes forgot what it was like to be around other wolves, to think about anybody other than herself and her life, the others had all been bitten and were still learning how everything worked for them, they had their wolves under control now, but there was still so much about this world that they didn’t know, in fact, Stiles seemed to be where they got most of their information from and it was only when he ‘left town’, that they could no longer rely on his assistance, that they’d had to all start talking to each other to survive. 

Noah was proud, proud of how much his son must have done to keep them all safe when he must have felt like he was being pulled in a hundred different directions, helping Derek even when Scott wasn’t talking to him, helping Scott when Derek didn’t, trying to save Lydia’s life by going with Peter, and, yeah, Noah was beyond pissed that the man had kidnapped his son, but, still, at least he’d let Stiles go afterwards. Hearing that Gerard had kidnapped him off the pitch, hearing what he’d done to him in the basement as Boyd and Erica tried to free themselves and Stiles had been determined to keep all the attention on him, it made Noah feel sick. Of course he knew Gerard had beaten Stiles, he’d seen the state of him that night on the lawn, but, to hear how Stiles had mouthed off whenever Gerard turned towards Erica and Boyd, hearing how he’d sacrificed himself to protect his pack, and they were HIS, Stiles had apparently said it over and over again, that they were HIS pack, HIS to protect, and he would die before he let Gerard hurt them. Noah had never been more exasperated and proud of Stiles, he loved that Stiles had had people in his life that he cared so deeply for, after his mom died Stiles had stopped allowing anybody in, he’d shut off emotionally, Noah had struggled to ever get him to talk about anything emotional, struggled to get Stiles to grieve for his mom by sobbing his heart out, no, he’d never seen Stiles cry since the day his mom died. There had only ever been his dad, Scott and Melissa, he wouldn’t allow himself to care for anybody else, Stiles would do anything for the three of them, other than talk about his feelings, he would deflect constantly, but, he would always be there for them, to support them, to help them, no matter what. So, to know that Stiles had taken in the pack as part of his family, it made Noah so happy, knowing his son had opened up to them, let them in, admitted he cared for them, but, at the same time, couldn’t Stiles have allowed Gerard to beat up the people who healed a lot quicker than him? 

He was desperate to get his son back, desperate to see him, hug him, tell him it was all going to be okay, all he needed was for them to somehow find a way that would break whatever spell Kate had him under and then his son could come home. He’d been into the station a few times, they’d asked him to come back to work considering he wasn’t dying any longer, but, Noah had turned them down, at least for the time being, he didn’t want to waste any time on police work as it took him away from time he could spend looking for his son and, right now, all he wanted was his son. He knew some of the station were aware, or at least assumed, that Stiles’ absence wasn’t voluntary, that something had happened to him for him to still be away from his dad, but, nobody had dug in to it, other that asking Noah if there was anything they could do to help. Noah had flat out denied any assistance. He couldn’t drag innocent deputies in to this, not when Stiles could end up killing them all if Kate ordered him to and if they hadn’t broken whatever spell he was under. The relief he felt when Chris said they’d be able to start the trace had made his knees shake and he’d had to sit down on the nearest sofa as the pack all crowded into the living room to hear the news.

Stiles was currently traveling along a road about a hundred miles west of them heading vaguely in their direction but there was a hundred different turnings he could take before he would arrive in Beacon Hills, as soon as Chris announced his location there was uproar from the pack. 

“You can’t leave us here! We’re coming with you!” Isaac shouted in determination when Derek had said that he would go with Chris to check it out. 

“I’m not taking you, Stiles could have killed all of us last time, I’m not taking you into a situation where it happens for real this time.” Derek argued in reply. 

“Derek, please, we have to be there, we have to help.” Erica pleaded and Derek looked at her with concern, he sometimes doubted that he’d got the full story of everything that happened in that basement, sometimes, the way Erica and Boyd talked, it was like, it was like Stiles was more to them than just a pack member, they spoke about him as if he was their Alpha, as if their loyalties had been realigned that night and Derek wondered what would happen if it ever came to a choice. It wouldn’t though. He would do everything in his power to rescue Stiles and once they had him back Derek wasn’t going to let him out of his sight, he would never let Stiles get hurt again, not if he could help it. 

“I’m not risking getting you all killed. I’ll take Chris and we’ll do a recon, then we can reassess.” 

“No. I’m coming with you.” Noah disagreed. “And if you won’t take me, I’m perfectly capable of driving my own car right behind you.” 

“The same goes for me.” Scott added, “We plan together, or I come after you and there’s the risk of me accidently making a mess of whatever plan you have.” He said and Derek huffed in annoyance. 

“You really want to risk getting killed over this?” 

“It’s STILES. I’d risk dying every single day if it means we get him back, if we get him home.” Scott replied simply and Derek knew there was no point in arguing with him, with any of them. 

“Plus, there’s more chance of us figuring out how to break the spell if we have more of an idea of how it works, more data increases our chances, more of us there to see what is happening means more chance of us seeing something relevant.” Lydia commented and Derek sighed in defeat.

“Alright, fine, but we need to come up with a plan, and we can’t make any contact, Kate can’t know we’re alive, not until we know how to save Stiles.” He snapped and everyone nodded.

“Maybe we could find a good vantage point? I mean, Kate’s a shifter now, she’ll smell us or hear us if we get too close, but maybe we can see them without them seeing us?” Allison said and everyone nodded in agreement. 

Chris pulled up maps of the surrounding area and Derek just prayed that Stiles stopped in one of the nearby locations until they got there, it took them an hour before they agreed on the plan, diving into their cars and racing off after the tracker buried under Stiles’ skin. 

Stiles stared at the small family in front of him, a mother, a father, a son who couldn’t be older than nine or ten, they were going to die tonight and it was all Stiles’ fault. 

Kate had pulled into the campground at the side of the road a few hours earlier, it was nearing towards the end of the season so it was practically deserted other than the small family in their tent in the opposite corner, Kate had dragged him out of the back of the winnebago and shoved him to the ground, kicking him hard in the ribs and Stiles gasped for breath, staying still for a few moments until he managed to breathe through the pain, he managed to get to his feet unsteadily but by that time it was too late. The father was already approaching, looking horrified by what he’d just witnessed, Stiles shook his head, trying to warn him away but it was too late, Kate saw him and smirked, approaching Stiles and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, her claws tapping threateningly against Stiles’ skin. He saw the man’s eyes widen in fear, taking in Stiles’ battered appearance, taking in the claws against his skin, he glanced back at his wife and child as if suddenly realising what danger he’d put them in just by trying to help Stiles.

“Stiles, sweetie, freeze him.” Kate said and Stiles glared at the ground in self-hatred as he twitched his fingers and the man in front of him froze in place, he hated himself, hated his magic, hated the power Kate had over him, he wanted to tell her to go to hell, wanted to rip her spleen out with his bare hands, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t raise a hand against her, couldn’t do anything other than tell her how much he hated her. “Good boy.” 

“What are you?” The man whispered in fear as Kate indicated for two of the men with them, James and Daniel, to go and fetch the wife and child while the third man, Matt, waited patiently behind them, his fingers resting on the gun in his belt. 

“Oh me? I’m your worst nightmare, well, that’s not fair, Stiles here, he’s going to be your worst nightmare, I mean, he’s just going to do as he’s told, but, he’s the one that’s going to hold you still and make you watch while I carve up your pretty little family.” She smirked and the man looked sick to his stomach. 

“Kate, please, they’ve done nothing wrong, they’re human.” Stiles pleaded as Kate smirked at him. 

“But it’s been too long since I’ve been able to kill somebody, nearly a whole week. I’m craving it like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.” She paused, “Well, that’s not quite true, we both know I’ve had one other craving that was much stronger than this.” She grinned, winking at Stiles who had paled significantly and looked sick to his stomach.

“What’s happening? What are you?” The man whispered horrified, staring at Kate with wide eyes as his wife and child arrived at his side. Stiles studied them, took in the wide-eyed fear in all their eyes, the son couldn’t have been more than ten, he had dark hair that was sticking up in different directions, there was a spattering of freckles across his nose and emerald eyes that looked so full of fear that Stiles felt like his heart was shattering just looking at him. He had to help them. He had to save them, somehow. “Please, please don’t hurt us, we’ll leave, you’ll never see us again, just don’t hurt us. Please.” The father begged and Kate laughed brightly. 

“Hurt you!? No, of course not. This would be what I’d do if I was going to hurt you.” She turned and punched Stiles across the jaw, knocking him to the ground, “What I’m going to do is going to be so much worse.” She beamed, “Stiles, stop fighting it, you know you can’t win.” Kate growled when the man stumbled slightly, his feet moving as he grabbed his wife and child and shoved them behind him, already backing away from them. “I said, stop it.” She said, kicking him hard in the stomach and Stiles gasped for breath, his concentration lost for the briefest second and suddenly the family in front of him were frozen again. 

“Please, please don’t make me do this.” Stiles begged, his jaw throbbing in time with his pulse. 

“Well, you can kill them yourself if you prefer? Make it quick for them? I mean, it’s not like they’d be the first, or did daddy deserve mercy but they don’t?” She taunted and Stiles felt sick, he couldn’t breathe properly, he was still healing from the beating Kate had given him two days previously, and at that point he’d barely healed from the events of two weeks before, he prayed for death, prayed that there would be an end to this. He couldn’t go on, no, he could, but he didn’t want to. He just wanted to be able to be free, to make his own decisions, to kill Kate with his bare hands, rip her heart out and feel it beat it’s last while it was in his fingertips and smile at her as he did it. 

Instead he concentrated on breaking her orders, he’d found that if he concentrated hard enough, focused with everything he had and ignored the pain that got worse the more he tried to fight it, then he could break her orders, at least for a few seconds, it wouldn’t be much, he couldn’t have used it to save the pack, he’d had to use his brain to outwit her there, but, maybe, it would give this family a fighting chance. He didn’t get up from the floor, scrunching up his eyes and gritting his teeth and concentrating with everything he had to disobey. It lasted about three seconds until Kate realised what he was doing and kicked him in the back, the pain was enough to distract him for the briefest second and that was it, it was over, his chance to disobey was gone, he didn’t have the strength left to fight, his body felt like it had been trampled by a stampede of elephants, every movement sent agony pulsing through him, his brain felt like it had exploded and would leak out of his ears if he tilted it even slightly. 

“Good effort kid, but not good enough.” Kate smirked, turning to the family that were once again frozen in place, her smile taking on an evil twist, “Tell you what, I’m going to be nice for a change.” 

“Please, just, let us go, we’ll leave, we won’t say anything.” The man begged and Stiles grimaced knowing it wouldn’t work as Kate grabbed him by his hair and pulled him to his feet. 

“Stiles, be a darling, I want you to unfreeze mommy and daddy.” She said wickedly and Stiles glared at her with hatred as he twitched his fingers and the man and woman in front of them stumbled slightly as they were released from the magic that had held them in place. “Now, here’s how it’s going to work, I’m in the mood for a hunt, I’ll give you both the chance to run now, the first one I catch, dies, the second, well, that depends on how interesting the first hunt is for me. Sound fair?” 

“You fucking bitch.” Stiles snarled, wincing when she let go of his hair and shoved him to the ground hard. 

“You shut up until I tell you to talk.” She replied and Stiles felt the order slide in to place, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t argue, he glared at her with hatred, knowing he could do nothing about it. “Good, so much better. Listening to you beg is much more satisfactory than this attitude. Honestly, I make you kill your dad and that pathetic pack and all of a sudden you can’t even be civil any longer.” She taunted and Stiles glared at her with such hatred that she grinned, “Would you like to say something darling?” 

“I’ve never been civil with you bitch, and some day I’m going to kill you and feel damn good about it.” He snarled.

“And we’re back to death threats.” She sighed impatiently. “Honestly, it’s so boring, maybe if you would come up with something more original, I wouldn’t have to find my entertainment elsewhere.” She replied and Stiles glared at her. 

“Remove the orders and believe me I’ll come up with lots of original things.” He growled. 

“Don’t be silly, you’re much more useful to me under my control.” She said dismissively, turning back to the family in front of her. “Now, are you ready to run?” She said flashing her fangs at them. 

“Sarah, take Sammy, you run, I’ll lead them away.” The man said turning to his wife who looked horrified, staring at her husband with such grief in her eyes, knowing his fate was sealed, that he was going to die, but she nodded in determination, grabbing her sons' hand. 

“Oh, no, no, he’s not going anywhere with you.” Kate smirked ferally, “In fact, he’s going to stay here, one of you dies, maybe one of you survives and, your son, he gets to be like me.” Kate said, ripping Sam’s arm away from Sarah’s grip and holding it tightly, her fangs already descending. 

“No! Don’t do this!” Stiles shouted, he’d seen Kate turn people before, none of them were alive now, mainly because even if they survived the change, which happened more often than Stiles would have thought, Kate ripped their throats out the moment she decided they were more of a threat than she’d thought. Stiles hadn’t known it was possible, to turn people when she wasn’t an Alpha, but apparently that only applied if you were a wolf, which she most definitely wasn’t.

“I’ve been thinking about this.” She smiled, turning to Stiles and twisting Sam’s arm, dangerously close to breaking it, relishing it as the young boy let out a cry of pain and tried to twist out of her hold, smirking at Stiles as she knew he could do nothing about it, “The others have all been too old, too set in their ways, him, I could turn him now and teach him how to behave, so that by the time he’s old enough to change, to shift, to fight back, there won’t be any fight left in him, he’ll be trained to do as he’s told without questioning it.” She grinned triumphantly and Stiles stared at her like she was insane. 

“How’s that working out for you with me?” He questioned sarcastically and Kate backhanded him across the face, splitting his lip open before turning around and biting Sam’s shoulder while his parents watched on in horror. 

Stiles felt a slight tingle in his magic that meant somebody else was in the vicinity and he felt sick, he couldn’t watch her kill anybody else, but he couldn’t stop her, there was nothing he could do. Sam let out a cry of pain, doing his best to pull out of her grip but unable to as Stiles’ magic held him in place, his parents tried to move towards him but one look from Kate and Stiles stilled them too, until eventually, he knew there was no way to stop it, Sam would now either die from the change or he’d survive and become another of Kate’s prisoners and there was nothing Stiles could do to save him. 

He glanced around subtly, trying to locate where the mysterious person could be, if he could somehow stop them from coming into the clearing, stop them from walking into something that would be the death of them, instead, as he stretched his magic outwards, he felt the presence of several someone’s up on the ridge above them, he tried to look as discreetly as he could, the ridge was about a hundred feet further into the woods surrounding them and had to be another thirty feet above them, Kate wouldn’t be able to scent whoever was up there which was lucky. He didn’t want to risk drawing Kate’s attention, knowing that she would kill whoever was up there, their best hope was to make sure that nobody knew they were there, Stiles risked another look, praying that Kate didn’t notice, he saw several heads ducking down as if they’d been peering down at them and Stiles wasn’t an idiot, he recognised them instantly, his magic recognised them instantly, and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. 

On the one hand, having the pack here could get them all killed for real this time, but if he could distract Kate somehow then maybe, just maybe, the family had a chance of surviving, Derek could teach them about shifting, Sam could learn about being a shifter, they stood a chance. His mind was racing, trying to come up with some way to get them all out of this, alive, and then, as per usual, Kate fucked it all up. 

“So, mommy, daddy, I’ll give you a two-minute head start,” Kate said, grinning wickedly, “starting now.” 

“Wait, no, just, wait, please.” Stiles pleaded and Kate glared at him. 

“What did I tell you!? I don’t want to hear another word. Understood?” She snarled, smacking him hard enough that he fell to the ground, Stiles could only stare at her in defeat, “Good, now, start running.” She smirked to the parents who looked at her in horror.

“We love you Sammy.” The father said before he grabbed Sarah’s hand and turned, fleeing into the woods at the other end of the campground. Stiles couldn’t believe they’d left their son that easily, he knew they were trying to do their best to keep at least one of them alive, Stiles knew better, Kate was going to kill them both, he knew that beyond any shadow of a doubt. The second they’d fled, it was already too late for them, Stiles couldn’t save them, but, maybe, maybe Sam stood a chance, he hated to think like that, hated thinking about just dismissing them, like their lives meant nothing, but, if Stiles had learned one thing in the past year it was that he couldn’t save everyone, hell, he couldn’t save anyone, but, Sam was a child, an innocent, he had to find a way to save him, he was determined to find a way to save him. 

“Stiles, you’re going to make sure he stays here, aren’t you?” Kate smirked and Stiles nodded, gritting his teeth in determination as he got back to his feet. “Let the hunt begin.” She smiled, allowing the shift to overcome her, her face purpling, her teeth descending and claws coming out, Sam stared in horror, unable to believe what he was witnessing, “Don’t worry Sammy, I’ll bring back both mommy and daddy’s heads.” Kate laughed as she waved to the three men with her and the four of them took off into the woods after them, laughing in amusement. Sam turned to look at Stiles, his eyes wide with fear, looking at Stiles like he was a monster, Stiles didn’t even bother to correct him. 

“Are you… like her?” Sam whispered as he struggled to move, Stiles sensed movement up on the ridge and he looked towards them, shaking his head and hoping they saw the movement, they couldn’t come for him, it would result in their deaths, Stiles knew that. 

“Listen to me Sam.” He said, crouching down in front of Sam and looking at him seriously, reaching out and healing the wound on his shoulder instantly, it wouldn’t stop the change, even Stiles didn’t have the power to stop that brand of magic once someone had been bitten, but at least it would make sure he didn’t bleed everywhere and make it easier for Kate to track him, “I need you to pay attention to what I’m going to tell you.” He muttered, praying that Kate was already out of hearing, “I’m going to release you from my magic and you’re going to run that way.” He said, pointing in the opposite direction to where Kate had gone, “There’s a river about quarter of a mile away, run straight, she can track you by smell, the water will hide that, get in the river, don’t get out, stay in it, head for the ridge over there, do NOT head for the road, she’ll expect you to go that way. Somebody is going to meet you. His name is Derek Hale. He’s going to help you. He’ll protect you. I know I’ve given you no reason to trust me, but, the only way you’re going to live, the only way you’re not going to end up like me, stuck with her, is if you do as I say, okay?” 

“What about my mom and dad?” Sam replied, tears filling his eyes. 

“I’m going to do my best to save them too, but, I need you to get to safety, your mom and dad want that too, please, you have to get in the river to hide your scent and you have to get to the ridge, I’ll try to buy you as much time as I can. Get to Derek. Got it?” 

“Run straight, get in the river, head for the ridge, find Derek Hale.” Sam repeated, looking at Stiles with something like wonder, he didn’t understand why Stiles was helping him, he didn’t know if it was all some trick, all he knew was that he didn’t want to stay with the crazy lady who bit him, he’d rather risk trusting that Stiles was trying to help him, “Can’t you come with me?” 

“No, you’ll be in danger if I’m there. Can you do me one more favour?” Stiles whispered and Sam nodded, “Tell my dad, this is really important, tell him that Chris needs to take the shot, that I love him, but it needs to happen. I’ll do my best to make sure your mom and dad know you love them too, that you’re safe.” Stiles said and Sam nodded, tears slipping down his cheeks, “Okay, we haven’t got long, I need you to run on the count of three, run as hard and fast as you can, whatever you hear, whatever you think, just don’t look back, keep running, find Derek, he’ll protect you, okay?” 

“Yeah.” Sam muttered quietly. 

“Okay, one, two, three.” Stiles said, concentrating on breaking the magic, disobeying the order Kate had instilled in him, he felt the burning start instantly but he refused to acknowledge it, he had to buy Sam time to run, to get to safety. 

Derek and the pack watched the campground below them intensely, Peter and Boyd had to hold him back from going down there the instant Kate hit Stiles, knowing that it would only lead to Derek’s death. They couldn’t hear everything that was being said, the wind blowing some of the words away, but, Derek caught odd bits of it, that Kate was going to hunt the parents, he saw as she bit the child and the entire pack growled at that, but then Stiles, god Stiles, he glanced up towards them, as if he knew they were there and Derek panicked when he wasn’t certain that they’d managed to hide from view in time, if Stiles was under orders to alert Kate of their presence then it was all over, except then Kate was releasing the parents and a few minutes later, vanishing into the woods with the rest of her men. 

“We can go get him now, right now, he’s alone.” Scott said, already moving towards the path down when Derek saw Stiles shake his head almost violently.

“No, we can’t, Stiles is warning us off.” Derek said and Scott glared at him. 

“Who cares!? This is the best shot we’ve got. Kate’s not there. Stiles is alone! We’re never going to get a better shot at this.” Scott replied angrily. 

“We have to trust that Stiles knows more than we do.” Noah said. 

“From a shake of his head!? He doesn’t even know we’re up here!” Isaac argued. 

“We can’t go down there! For all we know Kate could be waiting in the treeline.” Jackson insisted, Derek was still watching Stiles, he saw him crouch down in front of Sam, saw him point in the opposite direction as to where Kate had run, then point towards the ridge and he knew what Stiles was telling the kid, to come to them instead. 

A moment later Stiles stood up, scrunching his eyes closed and holding his breath as if that would somehow help and then the child was running, sprinting away from Stiles and into the trees, it went against everything Derek had to leave Stiles down there alone, but, he was certain Stiles had to know more than they did, he had to trust him. 

“Stay here. Keep an eye out for Kate. I’m going to get the kid.” Derek said quickly, moving off the ridge and into the trees silently, leaving no room for arguments, he couldn’t risk Kate finding the entire pack and if all of them were moving through the woods there was more chance of her hearing them, he had barely gone more than a few hundred meters when he heard Stiles screaming in agony, he wanted to do nothing more than to run to him, to help him, but, he couldn’t, to do so would risk exposing the fact he and his entire pack were alive. Instead he kept on his current path, heading down the hill towards the river at the bottom, hoping that the sound of the running water would cover any sound he made, all the time listening to Stiles screaming, it broke his heart knowing that he couldn’t do anything about it.

Noah watched as Derek vanished into the trees, turning back to look down into the clearing where Stiles was still standing, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, he wished his eyesight was as good as the wolves, they seemed to be able to see the whole thing a lot clearer, and whereas he could see the general actions in the clearing, he couldn’t see his sons face, couldn’t see his eyes that so resembled his mother’s, he couldn’t see the detail and he wanted to get closer, wanted to hug his son, hold him tightly, tell him it was all going to be okay. 

“What’s happening?” He whispered to Isaac next to him who looked pained, a second later Stiles fell to his knees, a cry of pure agony spilling from his lips and echoing in the surrounding area, Noah knew that Kate would hear it, knew that it would no doubt bring her running back to the clearing, their opportunity to save Stiles was long gone. 

Stiles continued screaming, screaming like something was ripping him apart piece by piece, he was lay on the floor, writhing in agony, his whole body taut with tension, he rolled to his hands and knees and his screaming stopped but only because he was being sick, a thick black sludge that didn’t look remotely natural, black lines appearing on his skin as Stiles continued to throw up until he was only throwing up black bile, the entire pack looked revolted and Noah knew it probably looked even worse with better eyesight. He didn’t know what was happening to Stiles and he could only assume it was something to do with Kate. 

He watched with horror as Kate sauntered back into the clearing, stalking towards Stiles dangerously, she dropped something to the floor and it took Noah a second to realise it was two severed heads and he felt his stomach roll, she’d murdered the parents, both of them, the men that had gone with her dropped the bodies on the ground a few feet behind Kate and Noah swallowed back the bile in his throat. 

“Get up.” Kate snarled angrily and Stiles stopped writhing, instead he lay on the ground, panting for breath, struggling up to his feet as Kate punched him in the stomach and he doubled over. “You little fucker! You ruined my hunt! I had to rush because of you!” Kate snapped, dragging Stiles upwards by his hair until Stiles was completely upright, glaring daggers at Kate. “Where’s the kid?” She demanded. 

“I don’t know, half way to the sheriff’s department by now maybe?” He replied tauntingly, knowing he’d gotten one over on Kate, regardless of what he’d had to suffer through to help Sam escape. 

“You will stay there, you will not move under any circumstances and, because you tried to protect the boy, I’m going to find him and bring him back here and then I’m going to kill him really slowly, I’m going to make him beg for it to end, I’m going to hurt him, then get you to heal him and repeat the process over and over until his heart gives out.” She said, grinning manically at him before letting go of Stiles and storming into the preserve in the same direction Sam had run, Matt went with her while James and Daniel stayed with Stiles, both of them pointing guns at him as Stiles did as Kate instructed, staying perfectly still. 

Derek moved as quickly and as silently as he could, he didn’t know how much longer he had, Stiles had fallen silent a few minutes ago and Derek didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing, he was almost certain that Kate was in the woods now, no doubt searching for the child, Derek had to find him first, he had to. 

He moved along silently, stealthily, taking each step at a time, constantly on alert for any movement around him, he caught sight of blonde hair through the trees ahead of him and he stilled, using the tree in front of him for cover and ducking down as low as he could in order to make sure that Kate didn’t see him, his heart pounding so loudly in his own ears that he was sure Kate was going to hear it, praying the running water covered the sound. 

“Damn it!” Kate cursed loudly, looking around the area, the scent vanished in the river and Kate wasn’t sure if the kid had fallen in by accident or if he’d jumped in purposefully, it was probably the latter if Stiles was involved, he always did as much as he possibly could to ruin any fun she might have, if he wasn’t such an asset she would have killed him a long time ago. “He’ll head towards the road; he can’t be far ahead of us.” She said, turning to head to the road and then freezing when she heard a stick crack in the opposite direction. 

Derek was pretty sure he hadn’t breathed since seeing Kate through the bushes, he’d glanced to the river, basically to make sure they weren’t luring him into some kind of trap and planning to surround him, instead he saw the kid crouched behind a rock in the river, he was shivering, his lips turning blue, he was looking at Derek with wide, terrified eyes and Derek did his best to reassure him, putting a finger to his lips and holding up his hands telling him to stay still. If Kate saw them, they were both dead. 

He shifted his stance slightly and winced when a twig snapped under his foot, he grimaced, scrunching his eyes closed and then opening them slowly, praying that Kate wasn’t there, that she hadn’t heard. He saw her head turn, looking in their direction, she looked ready to investigate further and Derek was contemplating if he could grab the kid and run out of there before she caught them when there was a gunshot from back in the campground and Kate stilled, reaching down and pulling out a radio. 

“James? Daniel? What the fuck was that?” She snarled into the radio, there was silence for a minute before the radio crackled into life. 

“He tried to break your orders, just giving him a warning.” A voice replied and Derek could hear Stiles’ whimpers as he tried not to cry out in agony. 

“We’re on our way back now, the kids gone, he’ll probably die or go feral out here, I don’t give a shit. But Stiles, you’re going to pay severely for helping him escape. Shoot him again.” She ordered and there was silence for a second before another gunshot echoed through the woods and Derek heard Stiles cry out in pain, saw the kid in the river flinch, not from the gunshot but from Stiles’ cry of pain which was clearly audible even to those without enhanced hearing. Derek needed to go to Stiles, he needed to help him, save him, he glanced again at the child in the water who was looking terrified and he knew he had to stay with him, Stiles had wanted him to escape, he had to save this kid. “No healing until I get back.” Kate ordered before waving to Matt who had moved towards the road, heading back in the direction of the campsite. 

Derek waited until he couldn’t hear Kate any longer, indicating to the child that he stayed still just a little longer, the instant Kate was out of hearing he surged forward, jumping into the river and grabbing hold of the young boy, examining him for injuries and staring in amazement at the bite that had already healed over, his fingers tracing it slightly. 

“He healed it, the man, um, Stiles, he healed it with his hand.” The child muttered and Derek removed his fingers, looking at the kid instead. 

“I’m Derek.”

“Derek Hale. Yeah, I know. Stiles said you’d protect me, keep me safe. I’m Sam Martin.” He whispered through chattering teeth and Derek nodded, lifting Sam up and carrying him out of the water. 

“We need to get back to the others, can you walk?” He asked and Sam shook his head, shivering violently. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered. 

“No, no, it’s fine, we need to hurry.” He said, pulling Sam up onto his back, “Just hold on tight.” He said, hoping Sam would be able to get some heat from being pressed against Derek’s back, he could hear shouting from the campground, but he blocked it out, he had to get back to the pack. 

Noah had stared in horror as Stiles stayed standing in front of the two men, he’d been seeming to comply with Kate’s order and had stayed still, but then his gaze had darted to the woods, like he’d seen or heard something that none of the others could and then he’d clenched his hands into fists and grimaced as if he was in pain, before any of them could even wonder what he was doing, one of the men shot him in the thigh and Stiles cried out in pain, falling to the floor and clutching at his leg tightly. 

“Son of a bitch.” Noah cursed, gritting his teeth and wishing there was something he could do, instead he had to watch uselessly as, a minute later, the other man levelled his gun at Stiles and pulled the trigger, shooting him in the stomach and Stiles cried out in pain, curling into a ball in an attempt to stop the pain as he clutched at his stomach and thigh, tears streaming down his face as he screamed in agony. “We have to do something! They’re going to kill him!” Noah hissed angrily. 

“They’re not going to kill him, it’s punishment, that’s all.” Peter whispered looking like he was going to be sick at the sight in front of him, “He’s too valuable for them to kill.”

“But torturing him is fine?” Scott growled. 

“For them? Obviously. But we can’t help him until we know how to break the spell Kate has in place. We need to watch, observe, narrow down the possibilities.” Lydia said trying to be reasonable, “Now shut up and let me concentrate, Kate’s coming back.” 

The only positive was that Kate and Matt returned without the child, meaning he was still out there and Derek had a chance of finding him and getting back to them alive. That was the only positive. Kate was furious that the child had escaped, that much was obvious to all of them, she stormed forward and kicked Stiles hard in the back, and, when he cried out in pain, arching backwards to attempt to decrease the agony he was in, she moved around and kicked him in the stomach. The sound that Stiles made was barely human, it sounded more animalistic, an animal in pain, crying out in its death throes, unable to stop the pain, it caused Noah to let out his own sob, his child was suffering, in pain, being tortured, and there was nothing he could do to help him. 

Derek appeared out of the woods a few minutes later, carrying Sam on his back, he lowered Sam to the floor, waving Allison and Melissa over so they could take care of him before he checked over the rest of his pack, glad to see they were all okay. 

“This is Sam. We’re going to look after him for a little while.” Derek said firmly. 

“Until my mom and dad get back?” Sam whispered and Allison and Melissa both flinched, Derek guessed that meant it was bad news for Sam’s parents. “Stiles said he’d do his best to try and save them too.” Sam pressed and Derek grimaced, he didn’t know how to deal with that right now. 

“What else did he say?” Derek asked. 

“He told me he was going to release me from his magic, that he’d buy me as much time as he could, to run for the river, to get in the water so she couldn’t find my smell, to head towards the ridge, to find Derek Hale, that you’d protect me, keep me safe.” Sam rambled, “And, um, he said to give a message to his dad?” Noah spun instantly, moving away from the edge of the ridge and moving towards Sam. 

“What? What did he say? Did he give you a way to break the spell?” Noah asked desperately and Sam looked at him a little overwhelmed.

“He said, um, he said it’s really important, that he loves you, but, um, hang on,” Sam tried to concentrate, his heart had been racing so fast, that woman had said she was going to hunt his parents and then she’d bitten him and Stiles, he’d said so much, so fast, but, Sam had to remember, “Oh, right, yeah, he says he loves you but that Chris has to take the shot if he has it, and that he loves you lots.” Sam nodded proudly but Noah had gone white as a sheet, looking like he was going to be sick. 

“Does that mean…” Allison trailed off looking horrified. 

“He wants us to kill him.” Noah muttered tonelessly, shock wiping all emotions from his face, his son wanted to die, he wanted to die and he was asking for their help to end it, to stop Kate from using him. 

“No.” Derek growled, stepping in front of Chris when he took a step towards the ridge, “That’s not happening, we are not going to kill him.” 

“We aren’t. I am.” Chris said pulling out his gun. 

“I said no.” Derek snarled, his eyes flashing red, ignoring the way Sam flinched towards Noah. 

“Stiles wants this.” Chris argued. 

“I don’t care what Stiles wants. He’s fought her orders before, Sam is alive because of him. He can fight this and we will save him. I’m not giving up on him.” 

“How many more people have to die before you do?” Chris muttered and Derek glared at him, “Sam’s parents are dead, and they might have stood a chance without Stiles’ magic, but they didn’t, Stiles doesn’t want to be her slave any longer, you want him to carry on? Be responsible for more deaths? How many more people have to die before you admit what we already know?” 

“My mom and dad are dead?” Sam whispered and Chris looked at him apologetically as Noah pulled him close to him and held him tight. 

“That was not on Stiles! That was on Kate and you know it! You want to shoot somebody, shoot her. You are not shooting my son.” Noah growled dangerously and the rest of the pack looked between the three of them, Chris with his gun drawn, Derek standing between Chris and the edge of the ridge, and Noah crouched down and hugging Sam tightly. 

“Noah’s right.” Erica said, “Stiles saved our lives, we’re alive because of him, and I’m not talking about what happened in the graveyard, I’m not even talking about what happened in the basement with Gerard, we’re alive because of him, he saved our lives over and over again, since the second we were bitten, no since before then, he has been there for us, always, supported us, helped us, and I’m not going to let you kill him. Not if there’s even the slightest chance we can save him, not when there’s still other options.” 

“You heard what Sam said. Stiles wants this.” Peter commented and they all looked at him, “You think he wants to be forced to obey her? Obey anyone? You all know Stiles. He does what he wants when he wants and screw the consequences. He has always made his own choices, what was right and what was wrong, what was worth dying for, what wasn’t, when to run, when to hide, when to fight, when to lie, he made those decisions, and, right now, he can’t do a single thing without her orders. This isn’t fair on him, dragging it out isn’t fair.” 

“I don’t care.” Derek snapped, “I am not going to let him die. The only reason any of us are alive is because of him, he never gave up on us, he always found a way to save us, no matter what. I am not going to lose him. I refuse to lose him.” 

“Derek, you’re letting your feelings for the boy cloud your judgement, I understand you love him…” Chris started. 

“This is not because I am in love with him!” He snarled and Noah stared at him in surprise, of course he’d known Derek cared for Stiles, that much was obvious, but to find out that Derek Hale was in love with his son? That was a bit of a shock, “If it was Allison? If Kate had her trapped and bound to her like some kind of sick puppet, would you let us kill her? Before we’d exhausted every avenue? There’s other options, things we haven’t tried, we’ve barely even started looking into this yet, and I’m not letting you kill him before we’ve had a chance to save him, not if there’s even the slightest possibility that we can get him back, just like you wouldn’t let us kill Allison if there was the slightest hope for her.” Derek argued and Chris sighed in defeat. 

“It’s not like I want to do it Derek. I just, I know what he’s capable of, what his magic is capable of, if Kate finds out we’re alive, if she traps us again, she won’t allow Stiles to trick her again, that’ll be it, we’ll all be dead.”

“I know, which is why we need to avoid that happening at all costs, but Stiles wants to live, I know he does, we just need to free him, somehow.” Derek replied, moving back towards the edge of cliff and looking down on the scene below him.

Noah clung tight to the boy that was trembling in his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks, he reminded him of Stiles at that age, but Stiles, well, at this age Stiles had closed off from him emotionally, still trying to process his mother’s death, trying to look after his father, it was like he couldn’t show any weakness for fear that he would fall apart completely and Noah wasn’t sure that Stiles had ever really stopped doing it. Sure, he told him he loved him, all the time, he always showed his feelings, when he was angry, scared, sad, exhausted, happy, energetic, yeah, he showed all of that, there was no hiding it because Stiles was so expressive, but, crying, no. Not since the day his mom had died. 

“I don’t understand what’s happening. Are you all like her? Are you going to kill me? She killed my parents. Stiles said he’d save them and they’re dead! I don’t...I just want to go home. I don’t want to be like her. She said I’d end up like her and I don’t want to be like her. Please, please let me go home.” Sam sobbed and Noah held him tightly, hugging him until Sam’s sobs started to quieten. 

“It’s going to be okay kid, I know there’s a lot to take in, but it’s going to be alright, we’re going to look after you, we’ll explain everything, I promise we will, but for now, you just need to trust us.” Noah whispered quietly, “You trusted Stiles, right? He told you to come to us, you can trust us too.” 

“He said he’d save them, they’re dead, it’s his fault. Why should I trust him?” Sam replied angrily, swiping at the drying tears on his cheeks. 

“Stiles didn’t kill them. Kate did. He couldn’t stop her, it’s not his fault Sam. He saved you.” Noah said. 

“He didn’t save them. He should have saved them.” Sam whispered, his voice cracking with grief. 

“He did everything he could.” Derek interrupted. “Sam, I know there’s a lot to take in at the moment, but if there’s one thing you have to know, have to accept as truth right now, it’s that Stiles is being forced to do things against his will. Kate is controlling him. He’s her prisoner. Stiles is a good person and he saved your life. He could have chosen not to. He could have made you stay with Kate and there was nothing you could have done about it. He saved your life Sam. He’s being held against his will and we are going to save him. No matter what.” Sam stared at Derek, looking like he was going to argue before he glanced to Noah and stilled when he saw the sorrow in his features and it was enough to make him pause, Derek was right, Stiles had saved his life when he didn’t have to, it was obvious that everyone around him cared about Stiles, Noah especially. It gave him enough reason to think through what Derek had said, that the crazy bitch who had bitten him was keeping Stiles prisoner and the thought made him feel rubbish. 

“So why don’t you save him?” Sam asked, “If she’s hurting him and she’s holding him prisoner, why don’t you rescue him?” 

“It’s complicated.” Derek muttered. “We’re going to save him. We just need a plan.” He said solemnly, looking back down at the clearing below them. 

Stiles gasped for breath, the pain that was sweeping through his body wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever experienced but it wasn’t far off, he wished he was dead, he wished this could all be at an end, he wished Kate would just kill him and be done with it, instead as he tried to crawl away from the pain, clutching desperately at the ground beneath him as he attempted to escape from Kate’s kicks, he realised it was never going to end. Kate stood above him, laughing at the cries of pain that Stiles let out every time she landed another kick, as he bled out on the ground below him. 

“Oh no Stiles. You don’t get to escape from this, you get to feel every ounce of pain that I can inflict, isn’t that what your poor Scott wished for you? That you get to feel every ounce of pain I can imagine.” Kate snarled, kicking Stiles again and relishing in the scream of agony that he let out as her foot connected solidly with the bullet wound in his stomach. Stiles’ eyes rolled backwards slightly, evidently he was on the verge of passing out, Kate reached down and grabbed the collar of his shirt, “You don’t get to pass out Stiles. That isn’t an option. Heal yourself now.” Stiles groaned, his eyes fluttering closed for the briefest moment before his magic kicked in and his wounds began to heal, he groaned in despair, rolling to his knees and attempting to stand up before Kate kicked him in the stomach again and he coughed painfully, the wound in his stomach not completely healed just yet, “Get up.” Kate said and Stiles tried to ignore the throbbing through his body as he gasped for breath, “I said get up you worthless, pathetic piece of shit!” She screamed, kicking him again. 

Stiles managed to stumble to his feet eventually but it was hard going, especially as Kate continued kicking him as he attempted to stand, but, he was upright finally and he was staring at her with such hatred that he was sure he could get her to combust into flames if he just fought her control enough. 

“You have no idea how much it turns me on when you look at me like that.” She grinned and Stiles felt his stomach twist uncomfortably, “You know, with Derek, the man that you killed, that died calling you a monster, it was never that much fun, pretending that I loved him, pretending that I was all sweetness and light, but, with you, I never have to worry about that, knowing you completely and utterly despise me and yet you’ll still do exactly as I say, that’s the most incredible feeling, you have no idea how much it gets me going.” She said, reaching forward and trailing a claw down his chest towards the waistband of his jeans. 

“You can order me to do a lot of things but finding you attractive isn’t one of them, there’s limits to your control after all.” Stiles replied with a smirk and Kate backhanded him across the face, Kate grinning as his lip split open. She grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, exposing his throat, her teeth elongating in warning and Stiles glared at her, refusing to show any fear, “We both know you aren’t going to kill me; you need me alive.” He snarled, spitting the blood from his mouth. 

“You’re right, I’m not going to kill you, but it’s not going to stop me having a lot of fun with you.” She said, leaning in and licking up Stiles’ neck, across his jaw and then licking at the blood on his chin. “Your blood tastes amazing, I can just imagine how good it’ll be to eat you all up, drain every last drop of blood from that lovely body of yours, but if you’re not going to even attempt to get hard for me, there’s other things we’ll have to do instead.” She smirked and Stiles gritted his teeth, preparing himself, he knew today would be bad, knew that Kate would punish him worse than ever before for allowing Sam to escape, for helping him to escape, but Stiles had decided it was worth it. He’d saved somebody, after almost twelve months of never being able to save a single person no matter how hard he tried, twelve months of watching Kate kill time and time again and never being able to do anything to stop her, twelve months of listening to the screams of agony from her victims and knowing he was responsible for them, after all this time, he’d finally saved somebody, Sam was alive, he was going to survive, he had to, for Stiles’ sanity, he had to believe that Sam was going to be okay. 

“So which one of us would you like to join you today?” Daniel smirked widely, looking at Stiles predatorily, Kate turned to look at him, then at James and Matt who were both resting a hand on their belts, Stiles turned his gaze to the floor, cursing internally at how powerless he was, how pathetic he was, if he was just stronger, if he could just fight. 

“What do you think sweetie?” Kate said, pressing a claw under his chin and forcing him to look at her, “Maybe if we just got your blood pumping a little, you’ll be able to get all excited for me and we don’t have to involve anyone else.” She cooed and Stiles swallowed back the bile in his throat. 

“It’s never going to happen.” He spat angrily, “You are literally the most revolting person I’ve ever set eyes on, even before I knew what happened with you and Derek, before I knew that you raped him and used him to get all the information you needed to murder his family, you literally sicken me. I will never, ever, want to have sex with you and no matter what orders you give me, my magic can’t make me want to.” 

“Of course, those pesky limits of yours, I can’t force you into sex, I can’t force you to raise the dead, I can’t force you to make somebody love me and I can’t force you to kill, except, you have killed Stiles, maybe you were blackmailed in to it, but, your dad? He’s dead and at your hand no less. You can be motivated to do what I can’t force your magic to do. I figure, eventually, I’m going to find the right motivation to get you to do exactly what I want whenever I want.” She paused, “Maybe I should have kept daddy alive, maybe you would have listened to me if it was a matter of him being hurt.” She taunted and Stiles glared at her, “Oh? Struck a nerve, have I?” She laughed brightly, circling him like prey, “You see your problem Stiles is that you wear your heart on your sleeve, you’re weak, you’re easy to manipulate.” 

“And you’re a bitch, but what can you do about it?” Stiles replied and Kate laughed before she slammed a knife into his shoulder blade and Stiles let out a whimper of pain. 

“Seems so you were so naughty earlier on, I’ve decided we’re going to have some fun.” She said loudly, beckoning James, Daniel and Matt closer, “You can spill as much blood as you want so long as he stays conscious. Stiles, you can’t use magic to get yourself out of this mess. Whoever entertains me the most gets to join us.” She smirked before pulling the knife from Stiles’ shoulder and dropping it to the floor, “Off you go.” She said. 

Stiles moved as quickly as he could, snatching up the blade from the ground and flinching backwards, narrowly avoiding the knife that James had directed at his face, if Stiles had been a split second later it would have sliced his face open from temple to chin. 

The three of them were crowding around him, circling him, surrounding him and Stiles hated when they did this, he could defeat one of them, maybe even two, but when all three worked as a team he stood no chance, not without any magic to help him. He ducked the next two knives aimed at him, avoided the fist that swung at his face, he managed to catch James’ leg when it swung towards him and throw him backwards, he knew he wouldn’t beat them, not as it stood, he needed to wear them down, wear them out, and if there was one thing he was good at it was lasting during a fight, he’d had to learn how to deal with enormous amounts of pain in the last twelve months, his endurance had increased substantially, he could outlast them, even with his shoulder throbbing in pain, he knew he could still be standing long after they were exhausted, as long as he kept his guard up and didn’t expend too much energy going on the defensive.

He was too slow to dodge the knife that sliced across his arm five minutes in to the fight, it had caught him by surprise and he’d nearly taken another knife to the thigh as he’d stumbled at the impact, Kate had been taunting them, telling them that none of them were doing a good enough job of entertaining her, that she was bored and that, at this rate, none of them were going to be able to share in the fun she was going to have with Stiles later. 

It only seemed to incense the three men, they fought more ferociously, determined to be the one to take Stiles down, the blade he had in his hand felt tiny, useless against the much larger more wicked looking blades that the others held. He landed a few lucky hits, desperate to try and hold out a little longer, sure that they must be at least be beginning to tire. Kate let out a whoop of celebration when Daniel managed to slice across the length of Stiles’ back and he cried out in pain, spinning out of his reach just in time to avoid a knife to the gut. Defence wasn’t working, he had to go on the offensive, he dropped his shoulder and charged at Matt, catching him by surprise and managing to slam the knife into his gut. 

Matt went down hard and Stiles seized the opportunity to make a run for it, he headed for the trees, hoping that he could lose James and Daniel in the foliage, give himself some kind of advantage, he’d not even made it to the first bit of cover when Kate called out for him to stop and Stiles stilled, cursing himself and his magic as Daniel slammed into him from behind and he landed on the ground, letting out a grunt of pain as Daniel landed on top of him. 

He shoved backwards, doing his best to throw Daniel off, he moved just in time to avoid James’ foot connecting with his face but it still hit his shoulder and he huffed in pain, ramming an elbow backwards in to Daniel’s stomach so that the man fell off him, rolling out of the way of James’ next kick. Kate was laughing manically as Stiles dodged the next few blows, managing to stumble back to his feet just as Matt joined back in the fight, staggering slightly but still on his feet by some miracle. 

“Come on I’m getting bored! Put him down already!” Kate shouted and the men redoubled their efforts. Stiles managed to hold out for another few minutes before he took a knife to the thigh and he knew he was done for, he wasn’t going to last much longer, he wasn’t going to be able to beat them, no matter how hard he fought against them, he was just prolonging the inevitable, but just because he knew it didn’t mean he was going to give up, he couldn’t, he wouldn’t. 

“Stay fucking still!” James shouted when Stiles continued to avoid his blows and Stiles let out a laugh. 

“Sure, that sounds like a great plan.” He said sarcastically, twisting to the side and driving his own knife into James’ side, the man screamed in pain and Stiles grinned, Matt was barely staying upright, James was down and out, there was only Daniel left to take care of, he could do this, he could. He adjusted his grip on the knife, looking at Daniel who was eyeing him up as if unsure as to whether he could beat Stiles. Stiles was about to charge him, determined to win, to take all three of them out, to put them all down, he knew Kate would make him heal them all the instant the fight was over, but, they would have to live with the knowledge that he’d beaten them, that he could have killed them. 

“Enough. Stop where you are.” Kate sighed impatiently and Stiles stilled, one-foot half raised off the ground as he’d started taking a step towards Daniel, he glared at her, hating the power she had over him. Kate approached him, taking in his injuries and running her finger through his blood before sucking on her fingertip in what Stiles guessed was supposed to be a seductive manner, it just made him want to puke.

“Kate, get him to heal us.” Matt groaned as he fell to his knees, clutching at the knife wound in his stomach and grimacing in pain, she looked at them appraisingly then raised an eyebrow at Stiles. 

“What do you think? You think I should heal them? You defeated them. Three against one. Without magic. Do you think they deserve to live?” Kate asked. 

“It doesn’t really matter what I think, you’re going to do whatever you want regardless.” Stiles replied angrily and Kate smirked. 

“You’re finally learning.” She said turning to look at the three men, “You failed me. I don’t like failure.” Kate said, moving towards Matt, “Now, what to do with you? You’ve never failed me before, have you?” Her claws resting against the soft skin of Matt’s neck. 

“No.” Matt said gruffly. 

“And you’re never going to fail me again, are you?” She said, her claws digging in a little deeper. 

“Never.” Matt replied. 

“So next time I tell you to entertain me?” She asked. 

“I’m going to make him bleed.” Matt snarled, glaring at Stiles in anger and Kate smiled. 

“Good boy. Now, Stiles, heal them.” She commanded and Stiles gritted his teeth, stepping forward and touching first James, then Matt and finally Daniel, healing their wounds. 

“All shiny and new.” He muttered in disgust and Kate laughed. 

“Shame the same can’t be said for you.” She said, leaning in and licking at the blood on his neck, “Hmm, changed your mind about participating in my fun?” She queried. 

“I’d rather die.” Stiles spat and Kate laughed at him. 

“I know, that’s what makes it so much fun.” She turned to the three men behind her, “Daniel, seems so you were last man standing, you get to join us, you two,” She looked to Matt and James, “Maybe you should practice some more, so that next time, you don’t fail me.” She warned and both of them paled slightly before nodding firmly. She waved towards the winnebago and Daniel smirked at Stiles and started walking towards it, “Stiles, follow me.” Kate grinned and Stiles clenched his jaw, dragging his feet as much as he could but unable to fight the order. 

Derek had watched the scene unfold below with hatred, he’d heard some of what Kate had said, enough to know that she planned on one of the men joining in with her and Stiles. He’d not really thought about it until then, maybe a passing thought, but no more, not really, not until that moment, he’d never really considered that aspect of their relationship. He thought back to what he’d witnessed in the churchyard, how Kate had said she’d had a lot more fun with Stiles than she had with Derek and it made his stomach churn and his wolf howl in anger, at least Derek had believed he’d loved her, at least he’d wanted it, but Stiles, god, Stiles hated her, Derek knew that for certain, the idea that he’d have to have sex with her, just because she ordered him too, it made him so angry, his fingers trembled with rage, his wolf howled for him to change, to shift, to rip her apart for touching Stiles, for forcing him to do anything he didn’t want to. But, he couldn’t. Instead he could only watch.

When the fight started, Derek was horror-struck, it wasn’t fair, three men with large knives against Stiles who was still a child, he wasn’t even eighteen yet and he was having to fight the three of them, it wasn’t fair, Stiles shouldn’t have had to do this, he’d wanted to go down there and help Stiles, even though Stiles was handling himself better than Derek had expected, he wanted to defend Stiles, he wanted to stop them from hurting him, but, he couldn’t, not if he wanted the pack to live. He hated it, hated every second of it, but there was nothing he could do. 

He watched helplessly as the fight ended, as Stiles was forced to heal the people who had been trying to kill him only moments before, as Kate strolled towards the winnebago with Daniel a few steps behind her, as she turned back to Stiles and called him forwards, as Stiles stumbled forwards reluctantly, obviously fighting the order as much as he could, Derek felt sick at the sight, as Stiles walked into the winnebago and then shut the door behind him. 

“Is he…is she…god.” Noah muttered under his breath, he couldn’t watch this, couldn’t think about this, his son, god, his son, he needed to do something, he had to stop her, somehow. “Derek, we have to do something.” 

“We can’t.” Lydia replied, “We go down there, we die, Stiles kills us for real this time or Kate does while Stiles holds us still.” 

“We can’t let her,” Noah looked down, covered Sam’s ears, “rape,” He hissed quietly, “him. We can’t let her do this to him.” 

“You think this is the first time?” Peter said and they all winced, “Kate will have done this before, she’s had him for a year, you don’t honestly think she’ll have waited until now?” 

“She might have done.” Scott muttered. 

“She won’t have done. We all know that. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone. Going down there won’t help anyone. We’d all end up dead. That’s the only thing that would happen. She won’t kill him…”

“So what!? We’re supposed to allow her to do this because it won’t kill him?” Derek snarled through gritted teeth. 

“We’re not allowing her to do anything, we’d all stop her, if we could, but, we can’t, because if we die there’s no chance of us being able to do anything to help Stiles. We are his best hope at getting free. Either by breaking the spell or…” Peter trailed off uncomfortably.

“I take the shot.” Chris whispered and Peter nodded firmly. 

“We’re going to do everything we can to get Stiles out of this, but if we can’t, we have to honour his wishes, we have to bring an end to it, one way or another.” Peter said with determination and Noah glanced back down at the campground, he didn’t have to have supernatural hearing to hear the cry of pain that came from the campervan, that was Stiles, his son, being hurt and tortured and raped and they couldn’t help him. 

“We will end this, one way or another.” Noah said in agreement, “We find a way to break the spell or we end it the way Stiles wants.” He said sighing heavily, the thought of losing his son, it made him want to throw up, but, witnessing what Kate was doing to him, that was a hundred times worse, at least if Stiles was dead, she couldn’t hurt him again, he’d be free, safe. God, how fucked up was that!? That he was thinking of allowing Chris to shoot Stiles, to kill him. He didn’t want it, god, no, he wanted his son back, but, the knowledge that she was raping his son, that she was beating him, torturing him, and knowing he couldn’t do anything, that none of them could, it was soul destroying, and if that was what it was doing to him, he couldn’t begin to imagine how it felt to Stiles. 

“Not yet. We have to try. We have to at least try. If it doesn’t work, then, fine, I’ll do it, he’s my pack, he’s my responsibility. But not until we’ve tried everything we can.” Derek said forcefully and they all looked at him in surprise. 

“Derek, you shouldn’t have to be the one to kill him.” Chris muttered, “He asked me to because he knows I can handle it. That was why he asked me. He didn’t ask his dad. He didn’t ask you. He asked me.” Chris replied. 

“If it comes to it, if he has to die, I’ll be the one to do it, I can handle it.” Derek said but they all heard the lie in his words, heard the way his heart sped up slightly as he spoke, they all knew he was lying, Derek couldn’t handle it, killing Stiles would destroy him. 

“It’s not going to come to that.” Melissa said optimistically, “We’re going to find a way to save him.” 

They heard several more shouts of pain from the campervan but they quietened after a while, instead drowned out by groans of pleasure from Kate and Daniel, Derek was revolted but, he didn’t look away, he was determined to find a way to save Stiles and that meant he had to watch, study, find a way to break whatever spell she had him under. He watched as James and Matt finished training, as they started a fire in the fire pit and seemed to be getting comfortable for the night, getting out some chairs and settling in, obviously they weren’t planning on leaving the campsite straight away.

It was nearly an hour later when Stiles left the campervan, he was straightening his shirt, obviously having just pulled it back over his head, his fingers going to his jeans and fastening them up, there were bruises forming around his throat like somebody had squeezed too tightly, more bruises both below and above those that looked like hickeys and he had several cuts across his cheek and neck, Derek thought they might even be claw marks and he wanted to rip Kate’s throat out, Stiles’ shirt and jeans were stained with blood and he looked pale, exhausted, his fingers trembling as he glanced back at the campervan, as Kate came out with an arm slung around Daniel’s shoulder, grinning widely and licking a smear of blood from his cheek. 

“Stay still Stiles.” She shouted across the campground and Stiles halted in his steps, his shoulders hunched up as Kate and Daniel approached him, Daniel laughing when Stiles flinched as the man grabbed his shoulder. 

“Thanks for the fun Stiles.” He taunted, and Stiles glared at the ground until Kate pressed a finger under his jaw and forced him to look up, then he clenched his jaw and snarled at her. 

“I hate you.” He growled. 

“I know, that’s what makes it so much fun. I love seeing my marks on you, in fact, as soon as these ones fade, I’m going to make more.” Kate taunted, “Now, stay still for me pretty boy.” Kate smirked before leaning in and kissing Stiles, Daniel came up behind him and pressed against the length of his body so that Stiles was stood in between them, trapped between them as Kate kissed his lips and Daniel kissed and bit at his neck, laughing as Stiles trembled in anger, in hatred, as he fought with everything he had against Kate’s orders but was unable to do anything about it. 

Kate broke the kiss a moment later and Stiles spat at the ground in disgust, Kate backhanded him across the face and he clenched his jaw, gritting his teeth as he glared at her, hatred running through his veins. 

“Can I move now?” He snarled a moment later and Kate smirked.

“Not yet. Remember what you have to say?” She grinned and Stiles glared at her, clenching his jaw so tightly it felt like his teeth might shatter.

“I love you.” He spat out angrily. 

“How much?” She taunted while Derek wanted to scream, he wanted to go down there and rip her apart piece by piece. 

“I love you more than anything. More than anyone. I love you so much it hurts.” Stiles almost snarled. 

“More than your dead mommy and daddy?” She mocked.

“I love you most.” Stiles grimaced, holding a hand to his stomach like he was about to throw up and Derek didn’t blame him in the slightest.

“And what do you love?” She smirked. 

“I love when you...touch me.” Stiles said before he turned slightly and vomited black sludge over the ground.

“Okay, now you can move.” Kate laughed, as she moved towards the fire that James and Matt had built while they were in the campervan. “Oh, and, Stiles, take care of the bodies, they’re starting to stink up the place.” Kate called loudly and Stiles stared at her before nodding and moving over to where Sam’s parents’ bodies lay. 

Derek watched in awe as Stiles moved over to the bodies, he wasn’t sure what he’d expected Stiles to do, maybe he would dig a grave and throw the remains in there, he would have never expected for Stiles to reach out using his magic, to reattach their heads to their bodies, to make their clothes appear fresh and no longer stained with blood, making them look peaceful, like they were sleeping, not that they had been ripped apart mercilessly, then he moved them to the edge of the woods, just about under the cover of the trees, placing them side-by-side on the ground, entwining their fingers gently. Derek looked over at Sam who was staring at his parents’ bodies, tears streaming down his cheeks as Noah hugged him tightly, he wasn’t sure how Sam was coping, not really, but he was certain that somehow Stiles knew Sam was watching and he was trying to be as respectful as he could. 

Stiles crouched down next to the bodies, pressing his fingertips into the grass near their feet and the pack all stared in amazement, unable to believe what they were witnessing; plants, flowers, bushes and trees started to grow up from the ground in a circle surrounding the bodies, weaving in between each other beautifully, carefully, as if they had the most important mission in life which was to treat the bodies they were guarding with the same respect Stiles had shown them. Several of the flowers started to glow gently, as if they were guiding the way as larger trees started to form a dome over the top of the bodies, sealing them inside as the rest of the plants continued to grow until none of them could see inside the dome Stiles had created. 

“It’s beautiful.” Sam muttered quietly and Derek had to agree, the colours were so vibrant, the faint magical glow still coming from several of the flowers, the leaves from the trees looking like they were almost cradling the rest of the dome, Sam was right, it was beautiful, breath-taking, it brought tears to Derek’s eyes, especially when Stiles stood up, turning his back on Kate and the others, looking up to the ridge with such guilt and grief in his features that it made Derek want to hug him and hold him tight. Stiles opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, say something, and then Kate shouted his name and he clenched his jaw, letting out a heavy sigh before turning on his heel and moving towards the four of them gathered around the fire. 

“What?” He snarled angrily, he was so angry, he hated her, he wanted to kill her, he’d never wanted to kill anybody so badly before. It was bad enough when she did this to other supernatural creatures, but to humans, to helpless, unknowing, humans who had only been trying to help Stiles and to protect their son. God, she was evil. So fucking evil. He wanted to murder her. He wanted to rip her spleen out and watch her beg for death.

“Don’t take that tone with me. Be polite. Try again.” Kate smirked. 

“Can I help you with something?” He asked sounding physically pained as he addressed her politely. 

“Why actually, yes, you can, it’s so polite of you to ask.” She replied tauntingly and Stiles clenched his fists, he couldn’t fight her, he had to behave. “Sit next to me.” She said, patting the ground next to her chair and Stiles glared at her as he sunk to the floor, “Good boy.” She said, tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling just a little too hard. “I think it’s time for your punishment, don’t you think?” She asked. 

“What?” Stiles asked stunned, he’d already been punished, he’d had to fight the three of them, he’d had to be in the winnebago with Kate and Daniel, that was punishment enough, wasn’t it?

“Oh, you don’t think you’re getting away with it that easily, do you?” She laughed, gripping his hair tightly and dragging him across the ground towards the fire, shoving his face close enough that he could feel as the flames almost brushed his cheeks, he tried to pull backwards away from the fire and Kate held him tighter, “Stay still.” She growled and Stiles froze, squeezing his eyes shut as Kate pushed his head a little further towards the flames, he whimpered in pain as he felt the skin on his cheek start to burn and he was pulled abruptly backwards. 

“Aww I was enjoying that.” James commented and Stiles wanted to launch himself at him, punch him in the face, keep punching until he wasn’t even recognisable any more, but he couldn’t, instead he sat on the floor, glaring at the ground and waiting for whatever Kate would say next. 

“You ruined my hunt earlier, making me kill them too quickly, I was going to have fun with them, take my time, and, you, you screaming like a little bitch, you defying my orders, I had to kill them quickly, you ruined my fun. Do you honestly think you’ve been punished enough for that so far?” Kate said and Stiles gritted his teeth, Kate laughed, bending down to look him in the eye, “So much hatred, so much fire in your eyes Stiles, I can see it, you want to fight me, you want to kill me, you’re desperate to do it, but you will never be able to, because you’re my protector, aren’t you?” 

“Yes.” Stiles spat angrily and Kate let go of his hair and turned to Matt. 

“Go fetch the tools.” She said and Stiles paled, trying to steel himself for what was going to come next, knowing it was going to be unbearable pain, but he was going to have to bear it, there was no choice, it wasn’t like he would be allowed to die. “Go stand against that tree.” Kate said, pointing to a tree near the edge of the preserve, holding out her hand as Matt gave her the first knife and Stiles stood with his back pressed to the tree, cursing internally, hating that he was so powerless, that he couldn’t fight her. “Tell me your orders.” Kate said loudly and Stiles grimaced.

“They are the enemy. Show them no mercy. They are monsters and they need to know that. I cannot show them any weakness or they will take advantage. Only show them anger and hatred, they have to know they are monsters, they touch me, they get hurt. They are the enemy. You are not. Protect you and your men at all costs.” He started, bracing himself when Kate threw the knife and it slammed into his shoulder with enough force to pin him to the tree, he let out a cry of pain, moving to pull the knife out. 

“Leave it there.” Kate called and Stiles lowered his hand, wincing at the pain in his body, “Did I say stop?” 

“Follow instructions as they are given. Do not try and fight or disagree with your orders. If the enemy are around, I make sure that they cannot hurt you, in any way. I am not important. I am not special.” Stiles said, crying out when the next knife stabbed into his side just above his hip, gritting his teeth and continuing, “Nobody is coming to save me. Nobody cares about me. If they did, they would have called. They would have looked for me. They would have felt it when you hurt me. I’m yours. I do as you say, I protect you, I keep you safe, I follow your orders and I don’t get punished.”

“And what happened today?” Kate queried, throwing another knife that this time penetrated his thigh and Stiles let out a groan of pain, feeling like he was going to throw up from the pain. 

“I disobeyed.” Stiles spat. 

“And so?” She prompted. 

“I’m being punished.” He said. 

“Exactly.” Kate smirked, walking closer and placing the tip of the knife against the back of Stiles’ hand. “You’re not going to fight my orders any more, are you? Not when it causes you so much pain?” She dug the tip of the knife in, not quite breaking his skin, and Stiles glared at her in anger, leaning in towards her, pulling on the knives as much as possible without them being ripped from the trunk, ignoring the pain in his body. 

“I’m going to fight you every second I can. I’d do it again. Over and over. Just to watch you lose, bitch.” He said in defiance, knowing he was going to pay for it but loving the split second of surprise he saw on Kate’s face before her expression changed to one of rage and she shoved the knife into his hand and through into the bark of the tree, Stiles let out a cry of pain, his entire body screaming at him to rip the offending items out of his skin and shove them in to Kate instead but he couldn’t. He couldn’t pull the knives out, he couldn’t fight Kate, he couldn’t hurt her, no matter how badly he wanted to. 

“Just for that, you’re going to spend the night out here.” She snarled, “Those knives are going to stay buried in you until I say otherwise, you’re going to stay right there.” She paused in thought, “And you’re going to heal yourself enough that you don’t die, but that’s it, I want you to feel the pain, I want you to suffer, and tomorrow, we’re going to start a new hunt, one that’s more exciting than those stupid humans, maybe we’ll hunt the kid down…”

“I can’t track him, he won’t have his first change until he’s a teenager, he’s still human for now, there’s no way for me to find him. You know I can’t track humans.” Stiles grunted out and Kate shrugged. 

“Maybe I’ll get you to find me the nearest werewolf and we’ll hunt them instead, maybe not, maybe I’ll drag you through the woods until we pick up on something the kid left behind him. Either way, tomorrow morning, we’re going hunting and you had best not be so stupid to disobey me again or this,” She twisted the knife in his shoulder and he screamed in pain, “this will be nothing in comparison to what I’ll do to you.” She leaned in, licking some of the blood from the knife in his shoulder before licking up his neck and grabbing his ear in her teeth, “You’ll break eventually Stiles, nobody is coming to save you, your daddy, that pack, they’re all dead, they died thinking you’re a monster, and you are, you’re mine, my monster, and, eventually, you will break.” She whispered threateningly. 

“Go to Hell.” Stiles spat angrily and Kate laughed, pulling away and moving towards the winnebago. 

“No doubt I’ll see you there baby.” She smirked before the four of them headed in to the van and shut the door behind them. Stiles leaned against the tree, trying to ease some of the pressure on the knives, he squeezed his eyes shut, tried to think of anything other than the pain, tried to find some kind of happy memory to focus on, but he couldn’t. When he closed his eyes all he saw was blood and death, saw Scott standing in front of him, telling him that he wished he was dead, wished that his mother had killed him, saw Derek looking at him with hatred, calling him a monster, saw Allison telling him he was weak, saw his mom telling him that he was evil and needed to die, saw Kate laughing at him, calling him weak, pathetic, idiotic. The pain was overwhelming and there was no escape, no happy memories to keep him going, piece by piece he was being torn apart, his mind being destroyed until there was nothing happy left, until there was only darkness, death, blood and pain. 

Derek made sure Melissa, Isaac, Lydia and Allison had taken Sam back to the car the instant Kate had mentioned punishment, thankfully none of them had seen as Kate had shoved Stiles’ face towards the fire, Peter had shifted, his eyes flashing blue dangerously, his claws digging into his own leg as he attempted to keep control, to not run down there and rip her apart piece by piece. He wasn’t the only one. 

Scott kept insisting that they needed to go down there and help Stiles, it was only Chris repeatedly telling him that they wouldn’t help Stiles, that they would die at Stiles’ hand and then they would never be able to help him, that seemed to have finally gotten through to him and forced Scott to stop pacing, instead he’d settled onto the ground near Derek and had watched the events unfolding below with pure rage in his features. There was no doubt in Derek’s mind that the moment they freed Stiles, the pack would tear Kate apart, would rip her into a thousand pieces, would make sure there was no way for her to come back this time. 

When Kate and the others vanished into the van for the night Derek began to form a plan, it was risky, but, maybe...maybe he could get down there, talk to Stiles, find out how to free him. He looked around, the rest of the pack all seemed to be getting restless, he knew they would be annoyed if he told them to stay here, but, if they all went down there, it increased the chances of Kate spotting them. 

“I need you to stay here.” Derek whispered. 

“What are you going to do?” Erica replied. 

“I just...I need you all to stay here. I won’t be long.” 

“Derek, wait.” Chris said, grabbing his arm, “The orders, the ones Kate made him say, we don’t know what other ones she might have put in place, if you touch him, he has to hurt you, he can’t show you anything other than anger or hatred, but, what if he has to let her know if there’s a wolf nearby? What if he has to alert her if anyone tries to kidnap him? I mean, we all saw what happened earlier, when Stiles fought her orders so that Sam could escape, he won’t be able to stay quiet.”

“What are you saying?” Derek growled. 

“I’m saying, a human should go down there. I’ll go down there.” Chris offered. 

“No chance. You want him dead.” Noah snapped. 

“I don’t want him dead. He asked me to put him out of his misery. That’s a different thing completely and we’ve agreed, I’m not going to do anything until we’ve tried every other alternative.” Chris replied. 

“I don’t care, if anybody is going down there, it’s me, I’m his father.” Noah said, already assessing the quickest way down. 

“Fine, Chris is right, we don’t know what other orders Stiles is under, you’re the best one to talk to him, but I’m still coming with you, you’ll move through the woods better with me there to guide you.” Derek said in determination. 

“What about the rest of us? We’re just supposed to wait here?” Scott said sullenly. 

“You’re supposed to keep watch, if anything changes on the way there, I want you to let us know.” Derek replied. 

“How are we supposed to do that? Howl?” Scott snapped and Derek held up his mobile, waving it in front of his face as Scott flushed in embarrassment, “Oh. Right.” 

“If we’re in danger of being seen, call me, let it ring once, I’ll hear it.” Derek said before looking to Noah who nodded and both of them headed off into the woods while the rest of the pack turned their attention to the clearing, watching the winnebago intently for any sign of movement. 

Stiles hit his head against the bark of the tree, trying to focus on that pain instead of the pain that was running riot through his entire body, he reached out with his magic, closing his eyes and imagining it like a light mist that spread out into the surrounding area, locating anybody in the vicinity that could be a threat. It was odd, he’d never known he had magic, not until the night that Gerard snatched him, not until he’d felt a bullet tear through his chest, until he’d fallen to the ground, looked over and seen his dad lying on the ground behind him, blood bubbling from a wound in his chest. All his own pain had been forgotten in that instant, he’d scrambled forward, shoving his hands on his father’s chest, applying as much pressure as he could, calling out for his dad to wake up. There’d been an odd glow from his fingertips, something he didn’t understand and then his dad had coughed and spluttered into life and Gerard had been staring at him in amazement before he ordered his men to grab Stiles and throw him in the back of the van. 

By the time he’d realised he had magic, by the time he’d managed to gain some sort of control over it, it was too late, he was already under their control, he’d never known what it would be like to have his magic without being under somebody else’s control, he longed for it, he could feel his magic under his skin, tickling him softly, gently. He knew his magic was good, deep down, he knew it, he could feel it like a physical thing, it was a part of him, like it had always been there, but Stiles knew it couldn’t have been, if it had been then he was sure it would have manifested when his mom was dying, but it hadn’t, so he couldn’t have always had it. 

Stiles felt the pack on the ridge above him, it was horrible, having them so close, and yet they could do nothing to help him, nobody could. He wasn’t sure why they were here, they thought he was a monster, they wished he was dead, part of Stiles wanted to believe that they knew the truth, that his dad had understood his message, that Kate was the one controlling him, but, a larger part of him thought it wasn’t possible for them to know the truth. A voice inside him, that sounded suspiciously like Kate, reminded him that they didn’t care, they didn’t look for him, they didn’t call him or see how he was doing, they’d abandoned him, left him alone, forgotten about him, moved on with their lives. Why should he get hurt trying to protect them? They had never even given him a second thought, not now, not when he was in Beacon Hills, he was always an afterthought. The stupid human who always got in the way, they’d probably been glad to see the back of him. He scrunched his eyes shut, trying to block out that trail of thought, thinking like that wasn’t going to help anything, he just needed to get through tonight. Focus on anything other than the pain and blackness he felt was going to swallow him whole.

He tried to pick out which presence felt like which pack member, it was easy to pick out Erica and Boyd, they felt brighter than the others, more vibrant, he struggled with the others, some of them were further away, Stiles guessed that was where the cars were parked, they had to have arrived here in them at some point so he thought that made sense, if he really forced his magic to concentrate he actually thought he could pick out Sam in amongst them and he sighed in relief, Sam was safe, they had him, he would be okay. He’d maybe not told Kate the entire truth earlier when he’d said he couldn’t track Sam because he wasn’t a werewolf yet, the truth was that Stiles could feel any presence in the surrounding area, supernatural creatures were always brighter, but humans were still there. Thankfully, Stiles had been able to avoid telling Kate that little nugget of information and she believed he could only sense the supernatural, it was one of the very few things that he’d managed to keep from her.

He started to allow his magic to fade, imagining the mist beginning to disperse, stretching it out over such a distance combined with the pain he was in and the blood loss, he was starting to feel a bit light headed, he was drawing it back towards him when he located another presence coming closer, coming towards him. 

He concentrated on it, realised it was two people and they were barely more than a hundred feet away, it took him a second and then he recognised the auras, it was Derek and his dad, he cursed internally, slamming the back of his head in to the tree again. 

“No, no, no, go back.” He muttered desperately under his breath, if Kate heard them, god, he couldn’t kill them, he couldn’t watch her kill them, god, there would be no way to save them this time, he couldn’t survive losing his dad, couldn’t watch her kill them, god, “Please, please go back.” He whispered but it obviously wasn’t loud enough, he could still feel them approaching. 

Derek could hear the frantic beating of Stiles’ heart and he was certain that Stiles knew they were coming, he could smell the pain too, smell the blood, his wolf was howling at them to hurry, to get to Stiles, to help him, but, they couldn’t, they had to move slowly, cautiously, if they made too much noise then Kate would hear their approach and they stood no chance. 

Finally, minutes later, Derek could see the outline of Stiles’ shoulder in front of the tree only a meter ahead of them, his hand that wasn’t pinned to the tree was held outwards, spread wide as if telling them to wait, to stay there and Derek stilled, putting a hand across Noah’s chest to hold him in place, pointing to Stiles’ hand when Noah looked at him in confusion, ignoring the blood that dripped from Stiles’ fingertips on to the ground below him. 

“Stiles?” Noah whispered and Stiles whimpered in fear. 

“Go, please, you need to go.” Stiles whispered, barely loud enough for Noah to hear him. 

“We’re here to help you kid, just, hang on, we’re going to save you.” Noah replied quietly, taking a step forwards, closing the distance between them and gripping Stiles’ hand tightly, moving around the tree to look at him clearly. “Oh Stiles, kiddo.” Noah whined, cupping Stiles’ cheek as Stiles leaned into his touch looking like he was on the verge of breaking down. 

“Dad you need to leave, please, if she finds you here…”

“It’s okay, I’m here now, I’m here, everything is going to be okay.” Noah reassured him and Stiles rested his head against his father’s shoulder, feeling despair and fear and the relief that only a parent’s touch could give. “We’re going to get these knives out and then we’re going to get you out of here.” Noah said, already moving to the nearest knife and Stiles shook his head, wincing as the knives tore at his damaged skin when he moved. 

“No, no, you can’t, they can’t be taken out, I can’t move, it’s disobeying orders.” Stiles said, his eyes pleading for Noah to understand, his dad nodded in understanding, tears filling his eyes. 

“How do we break the spell Stiles?” Derek asked from just out of his eyesight and Stiles grimaced. He couldn’t help but be relieved, they knew the truth, they knew what Kate was doing to him, they had to kill him, they had to stop her.

“You’re the enemy. You’re a monster.” Stiles said, his voice cracking slightly before he gritted his teeth and looked at his dad, turning his face away from Derek as much as he could and squeezing his eyes shut, “I don’t…I have to...” Stiles said his voice breaking with emotion and Noah nodded. 

“We know you don’t mean it. We know kid, she’s ordering you to say that, we know what’s going on. I got your message. I understood it. I finally learned how to play the game, only took me seventeen years.” Noah said, aiming for light-hearted to stop himself from crying, before he saw the look of defeat in Stiles’ eyes, like there was barely any light left in them, that Kate was destroying him a moment at a time, “I love you Stiles. I’m not giving up on you. I want you home. I’m not going to let Chris take the shot, not if there’s a way to save you. Is there? Do you know if there’s a way to free you?” Noah said. 

“I don’t know.” Stiles muttered, gasping in pain as his injuries made themselves known. 

“Okay, well we can figure it out, what can you tell us about how it works?” Noah pressed. 

“I can’t.” Stiles whimpered. 

“Stiles, we need to know, you have to tell us if there’s any way to save you, otherwise Chris will take the shot.” Noah said sounding distraught at that thought. “I can’t lose you kid; I need you to tell us anything that can help.” 

“No. I CAN’T tell you. I can’t. I’m sorry.” Stiles replied quietly and Noah gritted his teeth, he should have realised, of course Kate would have stopped Stiles from telling them, or anybody else, about how the spell worked and if there was a way to free him. “You need to leave dad, take them and leave, you need to get out of here, just run and don’t look back, go somewhere else, get away from me, away from Beacon Hills, somewhere she can’t find you.”

“I’m not leaving you Stiles, not now, not ever. You’re my son and I love you.” 

“I love you too dad, more than anything, but it’s not safe for you to be here. If she finds you, she’ll kill you, or she’ll make me kill you, and I wouldn’t survive, no, I would survive, but, dad, I’m barely hanging on here, the only thing that’s keeping me going is that you’re alive, that you’re safe, if she makes me hold you still while she kills you, there’s no coming back for me, it’ll destroy me. I need you to be safe dad. Please. Tell Chris to take the shot, make it count, between the eyes so I can’t heal, so it kills me, and then run. Run and don’t look back. Please.” Stiles begged. 

“No. There’s a way to save you, to free you, there has to be, otherwise Kate wouldn’t have forbidden you to speak about it, I know there’s a way to save you and I’m not going to give up on you.” Noah said, glancing to Derek when he moved slightly and Stiles grimaced in pain, squeezing his eyes shut to stop himself from seeing Derek. 

“I know you can’t speak freely Stiles, I know you’re being forced to say things that I’m praying you don’t mean, that you don’t really think of us like that, but, I want you to know, we’re not going to give up on you either, we’re going to get you home, back to the pack, where you belong, with us. We all want you home Stiles. And we’ll do everything we can to get you back, to help you but, until then, just hold on, hold on for us. Whatever she does or says or forces on you, just know that we care about you, we love you, we miss you and we want you home. All of us.” Derek whispered quietly and Stiles tensed, every muscle in his body looking taut as he gritted his teeth and fought against Kate’s orders. 

“You…” He clenched his jaw, smacking his head into the bark of the tree as if he was in pain, “I’m…” He snarled as if it was taking everything he had not to scream in pain, “I care about you guys too.” He gasped in pain, his chest heaving as he tried to ease the agony in his body, noticing Derek take a small step towards him and shaking his head urgently, “You’re the enemy, touch me and you will get hurt.” He muttered and Derek nodded sadly, knowing what Stiles was trying to tell him.

“I can’t take your pain without touching you, and you’d have to hurt me for touching you otherwise it would be disobeying orders. I get it. I won’t touch you. She’s thought of everything hasn’t she?” He whispered in disgust and Stiles nodded in defeat. “We’ll find a way around it, whatever it is, if it’s a spell, or a binding or whatever, we’ll find a way to break it.” Stiles looked like he wanted to say something else but it was taking all of his effort not to just scream at Derek that he was the enemy, that he was a monster. 

“It’s okay kid, just look at me, he’s not here, it’s just you and me, just the two of us, I’m here, okay?” Noah whispered and Stiles nodded firmly, ignoring Derek as much as he could. 

“You can’t be near here when she wakes up, she’s going to make me tell her where the nearest werewolf is, so she can hunt again. She’s insane dad. If she finds you, finds out you’re alive, I don’t know what she’ll do.” Stiles whimpered. 

“Okay Stiles, listen to me, we know the code to get into the tracker, we’re going to be able to find you no matter where you are. We might not always be in sight, but we’ll be nearby, okay? You’re not alone, we might not be right at your side, but we’re going to be here, we’re going to be with you. You are strong Stiles. You can hold on. You can hold out a little longer, just until we find an answer. We will find an answer. We won’t leave you kid, we’re going to be nearby, you’re not alone.” Noah whispered and Stiles looked like he was ready to burst in to tears, before he stilled, something like a plan shone in his eyes. 

“You’ll be watching?” He asked and Noah nodded firmly. 

“Yeah, we can’t be here with you, we can’t face her down until we find a way to stop her from using you to hurt us, but we’ll be nearby.” Noah agreed before Stiles’ gaze shot to the winnebago looking terrified. 

“Watch. Make sure you watch. Run. Run now. Go.” Stiles said, already pushing Noah back towards the woods as much as he could with his hand still pinned to the tree, before the door of the winnebago opened. 

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up!?” Kate snarled in anger before she paused, locking eyes with Derek and her mouth dropping open in shock. 

“Run!” Stiles screamed and Derek grabbed Noah’s arm and pulled him into the trees, running as fast as he could, glancing back to see Kate’s face change from one of complete surprise to utter fury. 

Kate stepped out of the winnebago, the last thing she’d expected to see was Derek fucking Hale. He was supposed to be dead. It took her a second to process what exactly she was seeing and by that time Derek and Noah were already running off into the woods. 

“Wake your asses up! Stiles! Stop them!” She screamed into the van, hearing as Daniel, Matt and James woke up and scrambled around for their clothes, she was already moving though, already heading after Derek, she was going to rip his throat out, she was going to make him beg for death. She reached the tree where Stiles was still pinned by the knives and hit an invisible barrier with force, falling backwards to the ground. 

Derek risked one last glance backwards again, saw Kate on the ground, he knew Stiles was buying them as much time as he could but he knew he wouldn’t be able to buy them much, he pulled Noah into the bushes, shoving him in front of him and telling him to hurry as they made their way back the way they had come, doing his best to block out the sound of Stiles’ agonised screams behind them. 

Stiles shoved a barrier up, blocking Kate’s path, buying his father and Derek as much time as he could, as Kate hadn’t specifically ordered him not to, his magic had responded gleefully, happy for any chance to make things harder for Kate. 

“Drop the barrier now.” Kate snarled and Stiles felt his magic begin to respond to her order. 

“No.” He snarled, gritting his teeth as pain began to run rampant through his body, Kate stormed forward, ripping the knife from his shoulder and Stiles screamed in pain but he refused to give in to her order, the instant he dropped the barrier his dad would be dead, he had to buy them as much time as he could. 

“I said drop it Stiles!” Kate screamed as Matt, Daniel and James appeared in the door way and stepped out into the clearing, guns drawn, looking at Kate in confusion. Stiles screamed in pain as he continued to defy the order, his vision whiting out when Kate pulled the knife from his thigh, his hand and his side, each time she pulled a knife out she ordered him to drop the barrier but he fought the order with everything he had. He had to buy them time. 

The instant he no longer had knives in him keeping him upright he dropped to all fours, black lines already appearing on his skin, his stomach churning as he threw up the black sludge that appeared whenever he disobeyed an order, he felt like he was choking on it, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think, his eyes were watering at the lack of oxygen getting to his brain, he was in so much pain, he couldn’t concentrate, he lost his grip on fighting the order and instantly the barrier dropped. 

“No, no, no.” He mumbled weakly, trying to get back to his feet, trying to fight the order, trying to put the barrier back up, and, when that failed, he did the only thing he could think of, attempting to hide their scents from Kate, he wasn’t sure if it had worked or not, before he had a chance to find out, Kate kicked him hard, connecting with his head, and everything went black. 

The pack watched on in horror at the scene below them, there was nothing they could do, if they went into the woods right now it would only increase the chances of Kate finding them, but they were desperate to get Derek and Noah to safety. The sun was already beginning to rise and none of them were sure if it was a good thing, Kate and her men had run in to the woods after Noah and Derek, Stiles was lying unmoving on the ground at the side of the campground, there was still blood running from the knife wounds and there was more blood on his head where Kate had kicked him, Scott was terrified that he was watching his best friend bleed to death right in front of him and there was nothing he could do, but when he’d moved towards the treeline, intent on getting to Stiles, Chris, Boyd and Isaac had blocked his path, telling him he had to wait for Derek to return. 

Thankfully, before it could turn into a full on fight, because Scott was willing to fight them if it meant getting to Stiles, two things happened, firstly Derek and Noah appeared through the trees at the edge of the ridge, they both looked a little panicked, as if they expected Kate to be right on their heels, they looked like they’d run for their lives, forgetting being stealthy and just trying to outrun Kate, if Stiles hadn’t given them such a good head start, Derek was sure she would have caught them long before they reached the pack, once again Stiles had saved their lives. 

“We need to leave.” Peter said as soon as they arrived, “She could be here any second, we need to get out of here now.” 

“Stiles said we need to watch.” Noah said as he tried to catch his breath, “He said we need to watch.” 

“Watch what!?” Lydia asked and Noah shrugged. 

“He couldn’t tell us, she has him under orders not to discuss anything that could free him. But he seemed to have some kind of plan, he told us to keep watching, so we have to stay and watch.” Derek explained. 

“Kate could be here any second. We should run.” Chris insisted. It was at that exact second that Kate, Matt, Daniel and James burst back into the camp ground, Kate was furious, grabbing the nearest chair and launching it across the clearing so that it hit a tree on the opposite side of the campground and smashed into pieces, she screamed in frustration, turning around and punching James across the face, knocking him to the ground. 

“Son of a bitch!” She screamed in rage, grabbing Stiles by the collar of his t-shirt and pulling him to his feet, slamming him into the tree hard enough that Stiles startled back into consciousness, letting out a groan of pain, “You fucking hid their scents from me!? You little shit! How the fuck is Derek Hale alive!?” She seethed and Stiles looked at her for a moment before smirking and shrugging. 

“I have no idea.” He replied and she roared in rage, throwing him to the ground and Stiles moaned in pain, clutching an arm to his chest as if something was broken. 

“I told you to kill him! To kill them! I told you to kill them all.” She screamed and Stiles laughed. 

“No, you said you wanted to see their bodies on the ground, you said you wanted to hear their hearts stop beating, hear their lungs give out, watch them fall, so that’s what I did, I stopped you from hearing anything, and you wanted me to do the exact same thing to every single one of them, which I did. You wanted them dead and I made you think they were, I followed your orders.” He said, crying out in pain when Kate kicked him in the stomach and all the breath was knocked out of him. 

“You little shit! You fucking piece of shit! I’ll kill you.” She snarled. 

“Do it.” Stiles said in determination and Kate looked ready to rip his throat out before she took a steadying breath. 

“I’m not going to kill you. I need you alive.” She looked around at the trees around them, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you, that I can’t make daddy watch as I make you scream.” She smirked dangerously, “You hear that?” She called out loudly, “Can you hear Derek? Can you see? You’re going to watch as I beat your pathetic little human pet and there is nothing you can do about it. Unless you want to come say hi. Then I’ll get Stiles to hold you still as I rip your heart out and I won’t be distracted this time.” She snarled and Stiles grinned. 

“And you thought I was just doing it to get you to kill me. You really are that stupid.” He remarked and Kate growled at him. 

“Except I’m not the one that’s going to beg for death.” She said, stomping on Stiles’ leg and feeling the bone shatter under the impact, Stiles screamed in pain, cursing as he bit his lip in an attempt to stifle the scream. “I’m just getting warmed up Derek. Why don’t you and that pathetic pack of yours come save him? Right, because you don’t care! You never cared about him. That’s why you didn’t even look for him. You left him with us and you didn’t even bother to call him. You know that, don’t you Stiles? A year. We had you for a year. We tortured you. We beat you. We made you beg for it to end and they? They didn’t even call you. Not once. They weren’t even bothered about where you were. Because they don’t care. Because they’re monsters. Because they’re the enemy.” She said, grabbing Stiles’ wrist and twisting viciously, snapping the bone and Stiles cried in pain, “What are they? Say it loudly, make sure they can hear you.” She said, still twisting his wrist until the bone tore through his skin and Stiles screamed in pain, his scream echoing around the clearing. 

“They’re the enemy. They are monsters.” Stiles screamed, his voice filled with pain, clear enough that they could all hear it, just as Kate had ordered. 

“Good boy.” She said, laughing as she stamped on Stiles’ broken leg and he cried out in agony, rolling to his side, everything hurt, it hurt so much, he didn’t know what to do to make the pain stop, god, he wanted it to stop. “Come on Derek, don’t you want to come help him!? Don’t you want to come save your precious pet?” She taunted, yanking Stiles’ arm backwards so that his shoulder popped out of its socket and he let out a muffled shout of pain, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as the pain surged through him. 

“Bitch!” Stiles screamed, his eyes watering with pain, he couldn’t stop screaming, there was so much pain, he couldn’t catch his breath, it was like his entire body was pulsing with pain and each breath only made it worse, Kate kicked him hard in the ribs and he felt several of them shatter and within seconds he couldn’t scream any longer because he was choking on blood, he could feel it in the back of his throat, he couldn’t shout, couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe, he tried to roll over, tried to spit out the blood but everything was fading to black around him, he saw Kate crouch down, lean over him, her face swimming in and out of focus. 

“Heal yourself.” She whispered and Stiles groaned as he felt the magic inside him obey her order, he wasn’t strong enough to fight it, wasn’t strong enough to bring an end to it, no, he had to obey the order and he felt it as the bones in his body cracked and popped back into place, his magic healing him, even as he fought against it as much as he could, crying out in pain as his shoulder popped back into place, as the bones disappeared back into his skin and it healed in front of his very eyes, and the pain finally began to ease even as the exhaustion of using so much magic began to sweep through him.

Kate was still standing over him, smirking brightly as she grabbed Stiles by the hair and pulled him upright, digging her claws into his throat and holding him tight against her.

“I can do this all day Derek, I can beat your little pathetic human over and over again, I can beat him right to the point where he’s about to die and force his magic to heal him so I can start from fresh, and you’re willing to let me do that? You’re willing to let me break his bones over and over again? Make him scream and beg for death? Are you that much of a coward that you won’t face me?” Kate shouted out, still looking around as if she would spot Derek walking through the trees.

“Derek, we can’t go down there.” Jackson said when he realised that Derek was practically putting his claws through the soft skin of his palms in an attempt to keep himself still, to stop himself from running down there and ripping Kate apart. 

“I know.” Derek snarled, his wolf was desperate for control, desperate to go and save Stiles, he knew he couldn’t, he knew that, but, god, did he want to. He wanted to so badly. 

“Come on out Derek! I swear I won’t get Stiles to kill you. I’ll do it myself this time. I’ll rip your heart right out of your chest. I’ll make him hold you still though. Make sure you can’t stop me. That you can only watch as I kill you.” Kate shouted, letting go of Stiles and shoving him back to the floor, Stiles lay on the floor, panting for breath as he tried to get himself under control, he had a plan, they were watching, he couldn’t tell them things, but he could show them, he’d just need to fight his orders. 

“What are we supposed to be watching for?” Isaac asked, wincing when Kate kicked Stiles again and he groaned in pain. 

“I don’t know. He said to watch. Make sure we watch.” Derek said through gritted teeth, Stiles wouldn’t have said that, not without a plan, they had to watch, they had to see what he meant. Kate had turned her back on Stiles, still looking around at the surrounding trees as if she expected Derek to march out to his death. If he thought it would save Stiles then he would, he’d do it without a second’s hesitation, but he knew it wouldn’t, Stiles wouldn’t be freed, all that would happen would be that Stiles would have to hold Derek still as Kate killed him and Derek wasn’t going to put the guilt of that on Stiles. 

Stiles lay the palms of his hands on the grass beneath him, trying to force a sense of calm into himself, what happened next was going to hurt, but it was the only way, it would give them a chance, give him a chance. He was going to do it, knowing that his magic would be forced to comply with Kate’s orders the second he moved, he braced himself, knowing he would only have one chance at this. He saw Kate swing her left hand outward, gesturing for Derek to come and face her, to stop being such a coward, Stiles prayed with everything he had that the pack were watching, he surged upwards, ignoring the agony that ripped through him as he disobeyed Kate’s direct order to never do this, doing his best to grab the ring that glistened brightly on her middle finger, he’d barely brushed his fingers against it when there was a blast of power and he was knocked backwards, flying through the air and smashing into the nearest tree with enough force that it shook and he slid to the ground, groaning in pain, feeling like his spine had been crushed into nothing from the impact, he was almost certain something was broken and he couldn’t feel his fingers, couldn’t get them to move even when he could see them right in front of his eyes, his vision started to fade to black and he knew he was on the verge of passing out, maybe even dying, god, he hoped he was, he hoped this was it. 

“What the fuck was that!?” Scott muttered in shock, he’d seen Stiles jump up, grab at Kate and then he was flying backwards, he’d hit the tree a good fifteen feet behind him and hadn’t gotten up yet, Kate seemed to have been completely unaffected by whatever had just happened, just a wide grin on her lips as she moved towards the motionless Stiles. 

“Was he trying to grab her?” Peter said, peering at Kate closely. 

“No, no, look at her hand, her fingers, Derek, do you remember her ever having that ring before?” Lydia said excitedly as Kate stalked towards Stiles. Derek concentrated his gaze on the ring on Kate’s middle finger of her left hand, it was some kind of metal, silver or white gold maybe, shining bright, it had weird sort of symbols scratched into it, dark against the lightness of the metal, he wasn’t sure what it meant, he was certain it wasn’t English, on a first glance they looked like nothing more than some kind of weird pattern carved into the ring. He knew for a fact that Kate hadn’t had the ring before the fire, or she never wore it anyway, he was almost certain she hadn’t had it when she came back to Beacon Hills when Scott was first bitten, but, she could have acquired it since then, it didn’t mean that the ring had anything to do with whatever hold she had over Stiles, but, Stiles had told them to watch, and he’d gone for that ring and it had blasted him backwards. Derek knew it was probably a stretch, but, if Stiles couldn’t tell them how Kate was holding him, maybe he’d tried to show them. 

“No, she didn’t have it before. Not before the fire, and, I’m almost positive she didn’t have it when she first came back to Beacon Hills, but I can’t be certain, she might have had it and just not worn it.” He muttered in reply. 

“This is it. It has to be it. She’s using that ring to control Stiles’ magic somehow. I’m certain of it. I need to research, now we know how she’s controlling him, we can find out how to break it.” Lydia said excitedly. 

“Or we could just shoot her now?” Chris said coldly, she might be his sister, but, she was a monster, even if he ignored everything she’d been doing to Stiles, if he just thought about the fact she’d tried to kill him and his daughter and had shown no regret for it, no, she was a monster and she needed to die, if it helped Stiles then that was just an added bonus. “If she’s dead, the ring shouldn’t hold any power over Stiles should it?” 

“Stiles’ orders are to protect her and her men at all costs, you don’t think that if you try to shoot her he might stop it? It’d just give away our position.” Peter said and Chris pursed his lips in thought, obviously trying to think a way around it before sighing. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He replied quietly. 

“Stiles! Heal yourself now you little shit!” Kate shouted, kicking Stiles when he still hadn’t moved, Derek froze, why hadn’t Stiles moved yet? God, had it killed him? Had the blast knocked him unconscious? Was he dead? Was he breathing? Derek felt his chest constrict, his heart stopped, he couldn’t breathe, he watched the scene below him with sudden terror, they couldn’t lose him now, not when they had a lead, not when they might be able to save him. Stiles coughed and spluttered a moment later, spitting out blood as he rolled onto all fours and heaved, his limbs trembling, he looked exhausted, like he was ready to fall asleep on the spot, Kate laughed mockingly at his predicament. “You know what happens when you try that and yet still you tried.” She mocked and Stiles glared at her, swiping a trembling hand across his mouth before standing up and looking her in the eyes. 

“I will always fight you, with everything I have, and one day, I will find a way to kill you. Don’t ever forget that.” He snarled ferally and Kate looked almost surprised at his ferocity for a moment before she smirked wickedly. 

“Those marks of mine have faded, guess we’ll have to refresh them, won’t we?” She said, turning to address the other three, “But first, get your guns, if Derek’s too much of a coward to come out and face me, if he doesn’t care enough about you to stop me from kicking the shit out of you, then we’ll go to him, won’t we Stiles?” She called out loudly, putting an arm around Stiles’ shoulder and trailing a finger along his cheek as Stiles clenched his jaw and did his best to pull away from her as much as he could without disobeying orders, “You should know Derek, I’ve had so much fun with your pet human here, I really took my time with him, made him scream over and over again. It was fun. I’m going to enjoy doing it again tonight and tomorrow and the day after and the day after that, for the rest of his life, I’m going to make him beg for me to stop and there’s nothing you can do about it.” She licked up his neck and bit hard on his earlobe and Stiles flinched, “He’s been such a beautiful good boy for me.” She called loudly and Stiles glared at her in disgust as she slid her hand down his chest towards the waistband of his jeans, “I’ve had so much fun with him.” She taunted and Stiles tried not to puke at her touching him. The other three returned from the winnebago, holding their guns tightly, looking excited and Kate smirked, “Stiles, I want you to lead me to the nearest Alpha werewolf, if Derek won’t come to me, you’re going to take us to him. We’re going to hunt him and his pathetic pack.” She snarled and Stiles glared at her. 

“We’ve got to go; we’ve got to go now.” Peter said, already pushing people back towards the direction of the cars, not knowing how long they had, “Derek! Come on!” He hissed, grabbing Derek’s arm and trying to pull him away from the edge of the ridge. 

“I can’t leave him with her.” Derek whined, sounding like he was in physical pain at the thought of leaving Stiles. 

“Did you not hear her!? Stiles is going to lead her straight to you, he hasn’t got a choice. We need to go now; we need to get the hell out of here.” Peter argued, still pulling on Derek’s arm. 

Stiles felt Kate’s order slide in to place, his magic able to locate Derek instantly, he was up on the ridge above them, Stiles knew that it would take them only a matter of minutes to get there, he needed to buy them as much time as possible, he needed them to get away. He fought the order with everything he had, ignoring the way his entire body throbbed in agony, he couldn’t understand why Derek wasn’t moving, he needed him to move, his body was on fire, his stomach rolling, black lines beginning to appear on his skin, Kate was laughing next to him, laughing at his attempt to fight the order and Stiles was terrified.

“Run!” Stiles screamed as loud as he could, begging Derek to move, to leave him, he needed him to be safe, needed all of them to be safe, the instant he shouted out the warning it was enough to distract him from the fight against the order and his feet moved forward against his will. 

“You heard him! We need to run!” Peter said, pulling Derek to his feet and shoving him in the direction the rest of the pack had headed, Derek glanced back at the clearing below as Stiles moved forwards and then he gritted his teeth and ran away, leaving Stiles behind.

The cars came in to sight within minutes and the rest of the pack were waving at them to hurry up as Peter and Derek piled in to the back of the nearest car and they sped off down the road the way they had come. 

Leaving Stiles behind felt like the worst possible thing he could do, Derek had planned to be with him until they found a way to rescue him, to let him know that they weren’t going to abandon him, that they would be there for him, that there was hope, hearing Stiles say that he was barely holding on, it had broken something in Derek, he needed Stiles to know that he wasn’t alone, that they were going to do everything they could, that they wouldn’t quit until he was home with them.

Stiles stumbled up to the ridge as slowly as he could, even when Kate told him to hurry up he still fought it as much as he could, trying to take his time, trying to buy them as much time as he could, relief sweeping through him when he felt Derek and the rest of the pack moving away from them. By the time they got to the ridge there was nobody there and Stiles led them back through the woods until they came to a service road, there had obviously been cars parked there but they were long gone now. Kate cursed, grabbing Stiles and shoving him into the nearest tree trunk before punching him across the jaw, screaming in rage the entire time but Stiles didn’t even feel it, he was so happy, so relieved, the pack were safe, they had escaped. 

“You will pay for this you little shit.” Kate snarled and Stiles grinned at her. 

“Worth it.” He muttered, seeing Kate’s fist coming towards his face again and knowing he wasn’t allowed to stop it, he wasn’t allowed to move out of the way. He felt the impact, felt a white-hot pain and then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

“We need to go back to Beacon Hills, grab the books, start researching.” Lydia said as soon as they were certain Kate wasn’t following them.

“We need to stay with them.” Derek growled and Lydia stared at him in astonishment. 

“Derek, we can’t help him, not right now, not until we have more information. We need to find a way to free him first, then we can use the tracker to find him. Watching whatever Kate does next isn’t going to help him, it’ll just waste time and make us all feel helpless, useless. We have a lead, we need to follow it.” Lydia argued. 

“I can’t let him think he’s alone in this.” Derek replied. 

“He is alone! There’s nothing any of us can do to make it any easier on him!” Melissa snapped, “Lydia is right, we can’t help him. Not by watching. But we can research. We can find a way to get him out from under Kate’s control.” 

“I need him to know we’re there for him.” Derek said. 

“How’s that going to help him Derek?” Cora asked quietly, her brother was suffering, that was obvious, she’d kind of realised that Derek was in love with Stiles, even though she’d never met him, she’d thought that Stiles must be somebody pretty special to have captured Derek’s heart like he had, she’d been desperate to meet him, and then Stiles had ‘killed’ the pack and she’d hated him. But then she’d realised what he’d done, how he’d saved them all, and she couldn’t help but be in awe of him, no wonder Derek was in love with him, he was strong, powerful, smart, deadly, and Stiles loved them all, would suffer through agony in order to protect them. She could see what leaving Stiles behind was doing to Derek, and she hated seeing her brother in pain, but, he had to realise that the only chance they had of saving Stiles was freeing him and to do that they needed to research, “I mean, you can’t help him, none of us can, watching isn’t going to help, all it’s going to do is make you feel like shit, because you’ll have to watch her hurt him, watch her force him to do things he doesn’t want to do, it’s better if we find a way to help him, then we can use the tracker to find him.” 

“Isn’t anybody going to address the issue that we can’t go back to Beacon Hills?” Noah muttered and they all turned to look at him, “Kate knows we’re alive, it’s the first place she’s going to look. If she can use Stiles to track us, or find the nearest werewolf or whatever, she’s going to go to Beacon Hills, get Stiles to search for the nearest werewolf and he’ll find us straight away, except this time we won’t get any warning. It’s stupid to go back there. If Kate has a single brain cell between her ears, that’s the first place she’ll think to look for us.” He paused, looking to Derek, “We also can’t follow them for the same reasons, plus, if she suspects that we are following her, she could lay a trap for us and we could walk straight in to it.”

“So what? You’re suggesting we abandon him!?” Derek said incredulously and Noah gritted his teeth, clenched his jaw and tried to take a calming breath in order to stop himself from screaming at the man for daring to suggest such a thing, all the wolves in the car were able to instantly smell his anger and Noah tried to calm down, it didn’t work all that well. 

“First off, you did abandon him. You didn’t even look for him. I was as good as dead and not a singular one of you even bothered to speak to Stiles to see how he was handling things…” Noah began.

“We text, he wouldn’t speak to us…” Scott interrupted. 

“That’s no excuse Scott! No excuse at all! He is supposed to be your best friend and you didn’t think it was weird that he didn’t want to speak to you!? You all abandoned him! You left him with that bitch and her crazy as fuck father and you let them hurt him, torture him…you let them fucking rape him…you could have called him! You could have searched for him! You could have acted like you gave a shit about him but you didn’t! You abandoned him! And you honestly have the balls to say that I’m suggesting abandoning him!? I don’t want to leave him; I don’t want to let him out of my sight. I want to be able to hug my son without knives getting in the way, I don’t want him to be caught up in any of this, I want him to be safe and happy and not wanting to fucking kill himself to escape her! We are going to get him back and then I’m going to take him somewhere where he is safe, where he doesn’t have to be surrounded by people who say they care but never gave him a second thought, I’m going to protect him from you, so you can’t hurt him, so you can’t fail him again.” Noah ranted and Derek felt his wolf surge to the front at Stiles being taken from them, he wouldn’t allow it, not again, they would rescue him and Stiles would stay with them. He fought back the urge to instantly go on defence, he understood what Noah was feeling, seeing Kate touching Stiles like that, it made him want to tear her apart slowly, make her beg for death, so, yeah, he understood why Noah was so upset, they’d messed up, he’d messed up, he’d let Stiles down, he knew that, but, he was not going to do it again. 

“Noah, I let him down, I know that, I should have made sure he was okay, I thought he wanted space, I thought he wanted us to stay away from him. I messed up.” Derek admitted honestly, “But Stiles, he matters, he’s important, he means a lot to me, to all of us, IF, when we get him back, and we’re going to get him back, but, IF he wants to leave, wants to get away from us, then I’ll support that, because I’ll do whatever he wants, whatever he needs to be happy, to be safe.” He explained and Noah looked at him in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Derek to be reasonable, “But, if he wants to stay, if you try and take him away without his permission, or worse, if you try and force him or emotionally manipulate him or anything like that, then I will hunt you down, I will bring Stiles home, where he belongs, with us, and I will make sure he never even thinks of you again, do I make myself clear?” He growled. 

“Perfectly.” Noah snarled in reply, “So long as you know that if you try and make him stay when he doesn’t want to then I will load my gun with wolfsbane bullets and put one right between your eyes.” Noah replied and Derek smiled ferally, flashing his teeth and his vision going red slightly. 

“Good, we’re in agreement then. We get Stiles back first and then we let him decide what he wants.” Melissa interrupted and they both startled. “I can’t believe the two of you had to get into a pissing contest over that, it’s ridiculous.” She scolded. 

“I agree.” Erica mumbled, “So if we can’t follow him and we can’t go back to Beacon Hills, where do we go? We need somewhere with access to supernatural books so we can try and figure out what this ring means?” 

“We can go to New York.” Derek said sullenly, the thought of leaving Stiles with Kate felt wrong, but, he knew researching was the only way to help Stiles, the pack were all looking at him in surprise and he shrugged, “I kept the apartment that Laura and I stayed in, I stay there when I have to head back for the odd meeting. It might be a bit of a squeeze, but, we should all fit, and, it’s only a block from the public library, I used to find all kinds of crap in there, I’m sure they’ll have plenty of books that most people would just think are myths and stuff.” He surmised. 

“Meeting?” Sam mumbled sleepily and Derek winced apologetically, he’d completely forgotten about the kid and he turned in his seat to look at Sam who was curled up against Erica’s side, his eyes half-closed in tiredness, he must have been exhausted, no doubt he was in shock too, and Derek felt guilt flood through him, this child had lost everything today, his entire family had been wiped out and he’d been bitten, it looked like he was going to survive the bite but once he reached puberty he would be a shifter like them, they couldn’t exactly hand him in to social services, besides, Stiles had said they’d look after him, and they would. 

“Yeah.” Derek admitted quietly, trying to forget all his fear and worry and just think about the child in front of him, “My employer is based there, I work for an architectural company, I design buildings for people, sometimes I have to go to New York and show my plans to people but it’s not very often.” He explained. 

“I didn’t know that.” Peter said. 

“Me neither.” Cora added, the rest of the pack nodding as well, they knew Derek sometimes vanished for a day or two each month but none of them had known why and none of them had really wanted to risk asking him about it, Derek shrugged blushing slightly. 

“Stiles knows.” He confessed and Peter rolled his eyes. 

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” He muttered sarcastically and Derek glanced at the floor in embarrassment, considering he’d spent so long denying his feelings, it was obvious now just how much he’d shared with Stiles, or more accurately, what Stiles had found out on his own and Derek hadn’t minded him knowing. 

“Do you build skyscrapers?” Sam asked and Derek nodded. 

“Sometimes, it depends on what my clients want, sometimes they want me to design big skyscrapers, or apartments or banks or bridges or houses, whatever they want really.” 

“Have you ever designed a museum?” Sam asked with wide eyes, suddenly awake now the topic had changed from murder and death, Derek grinned. 

“Yeah, once, I worked on the redesign for the Metropolitan museum of Art.” He smiled. 

“Mom and dad took me there last month, it’s beautiful.” Sam said before tears filled his eyes at the mention of his parents. 

“I’m glad you liked it.” Derek said quietly.

“New York it is then.” Scott agreed, glad he wasn’t the only one that hadn’t known about Derek’s secret job, looking to Derek who started directing him. 

Derek was right, it was a squeeze, but they all just about fit in the apartment, Noah had taken one of the bedrooms with Sam who had for some reason become incredibly attached to both Noah and Derek, and Melissa had taken the other bedroom when Derek had offered it to her. The rest of the pack piled into the living room, sleeping wherever they were when their eyes closed, the books they were reading still half-open in front of them. Sometimes Derek would wake up when Sam would crawl into his arms and wrap his smaller arms around Derek’s chest and Derek would hug him back, hold him tightly until Sam went back to sleep and Derek would run a hand through his hair, studying him silently, wondering what they were going to do with him. 

Noah had checked on the databases and nobody had reported Sam, his mother or father missing, it seemed that nobody had even noticed their disappearances, and, when Noah asked Sam about it, the child explained that both of his parents had been only children, their parents were all dead, he was being home-schooled because both his parents had been bullied at school and they didn’t want Sam to go through it too, so they’d kept pretty much to themselves, they didn’t have many friends, they were just happy with the company of their little family. It had saddened all of them that Sam had nobody who would even notice that they had vanished, but, it made Derek’s choice easier, if Sam had nobody who would kick up a fuss about him going missing, then Derek had no inclination to hand him over to social services who wouldn’t know what to do with him and would no doubt shove him in a foster home and he’d be left to deal with his changes by himself. No, that wasn’t going to happen. Sam was going to stay with them. 

They were all impressed with the number of books they’d been able to find in the library once they actually started looking, none of them were really sure how much was truth and how much was fiction, Lydia told them to work on the assumption that if there were multiple accounts of something then chances are it was probably based in some kind of fact. 

Derek was worried about Stiles, worried about how well he would be coping after being left alone with Kate for so long, it had been weeks since they’d last seen him and Derek wasn’t sure how he’d be holding up, he wanted to see him, he was desperate to see him. The only consolation they had was that Chris had loaded the account that showed Stiles’ tracker and they watched as Kate and Stiles travelled around the country before finally moving back to Beacon Hills, obviously deciding that Derek and the pack would return there eventually. 

The first time Scott got a text from the number they associated with Stiles’ aunt Sofia, Scott had dropped the phone and run to the toilet to throw up, Derek had picked up the phone gingerly, not sure he wanted to see whatever had caused Scott to reek of guilt and fear. It was a picture of Stiles, he was locked in a cell and Derek recognised it instantly, it was one of the ones he’d installed in the basement of the Hale house, the intention was that the betas could use it if they ever felt like they were losing control, if they were struggling with their anchor. It was never meant to be used like this. Stiles’ wrists were tied to the bars at the far side of the cage, his back to them, his t-shirt was ripped and torn, blood running freely down what they could see of his bare skin from what looked like hundreds of lashes, his wrists were raw red where he’d obviously pulled on the ropes and his face was half turned towards them, tear tracks marking his cheeks. He read the text that had arrived along with the picture and snarled, Kate was taunting them, telling them that she was in their home, that she was making herself comfortable, that she’d had a lot of fun with Stiles so far, that she was going to have a lot more. 

“We need to go there and rip her apart.” Isaac growled and Derek nodded until Lydia held a hand up to stop them. 

“We still don’t know how to free Stiles. She’s trying to provoke us in to making a mistake. She has no idea where we are. Our phones are encrypted, she might be able to text us, but she can’t use them to track us. Right now, that’s all that’s keeping us alive. We’ve got to use this time to find a way to help Stiles. Going back there unprepared is what she wants.” Lydia said, she was obviously furious about the treatment of Stiles, but she needed to keep a level head, Derek wasn’t thinking clearly and she needed to be the one that made the pack think before they leapt into action that would only get them all killed. She needed to ignore the rage she felt, take a step back, look at the bigger picture, thankfully, the pack listened to her this time.

“Fine. We keep looking.” Derek growled, picking up the nearest book angrily and throwing himself into the closest available space, ignoring the way his wolf howled at him to go to Stiles, to help him. 

The next text came almost twenty-four hours later, it came to Erica’s phone this time and Derek had to grab her and throw her backwards onto the sofa to stop her running all the way to Beacon Hills, he knew that Kate had sent another text, knew that it was going to be bad to cause that kind of reaction in Erica, he didn’t want to look, didn’t want to see what she had sent, but, he had to, he had to bear witness to what Kate was doing to Stiles, had to make sure that she paid for every single bit of pain she inflicted on Stiles. 

“What is it?” Noah muttered in worry as Derek looked at the phone and felt physically sick. 

“’Tell Der-bear we’re going to make great use of his bed.’” He read quietly, staring at the photo of Stiles, he was stood next to Derek’s bed, Matt was stood behind him, a hand on Stiles’ belt, obviously about to undo it, and Stiles was glaring at the camera like it personally offended him, the look of disgust and helplessness so clearly evident on his features that Derek wanted to run to him, to help him, because, god, they were going to rape Stiles, in Derek’s bed, he thought he was going to be sick, the very thought of it made him want to rip and tear Kate apart piece by piece. Noah snatched the phone from his fingers and stared at the picture in front of him, losing all the colour in his cheeks as he sunk to the sofa, looking like his knees had practically given out. He looked up to Derek, the helplessness clear in his eyes, the despair there for all of them to see. 

“We’ve got to stop them.” He whispered and Derek nodded. 

“We will do.” Derek said in determination, he would stop them and then he would demolish the entire house and start from scratch somewhere else in the preserve so Stiles wouldn’t have to see the same places where Kate had abused him. He didn’t care that he’d spent the past year building it, the house was only a house, bricks and mortar, Stiles was worth more than that, Stiles was priceless and Derek would do everything he could to help him, to rescue him, to free him.

“Guys,” Boyd announced, “I think I might have something.” He whispered in disbelief and they all turned to look at him. 

“Seriously?” Scott asked hopefully and Boyd nodded, holding up the book in front of him.

“It says about magic rings, about how you can bind a magic user to them, but it’s a long process and most casters would kill you or escape before you complete it, unless,” Boyd paused, reading on and then looking horror-struck, “Unless they were new to their powers, if they didn’t know how to use them, it says that casters usually come into their powers when they enter puberty, although it says that sometimes severe trauma can delay the onset of their powers…”

“What happened with his mom could count as severe trauma. I mean, he told Derek that he felt like it was his fault that she died…” Melissa began.

“That’s ridiculous!” Noah interrupted, “Claudia was dying. She was going to die regardless.” 

“That’s what I said.” Melissa continued, “But, he seemed to believe that he stole your chance to say goodbye…”

“She nearly killed him! She could have killed him! She wasn’t the woman I married, Claudia was gone, I’d already said my goodbyes! That woman stopped being my wife the instant she tried to throw our son off the roof!” Noah ranted. 

“She did what?” Peter said looking outraged. 

“Yeah, and then she used her last breath to stab him! She tried to kill our son. The Claudia I had been in love with was gone, a long time before then, it wasn’t Stiles’ fault that she died. I’m just grateful she died before she actually managed to kill him.” Noah said, rubbing a hand over his eyes in grief, “God, I had no idea he blamed himself for her death.” He turned to Derek, “And he told you that? He told you he thought it was his fault?” 

“Um, yeah.” Derek admitted quietly, “He was, um, I’d just killed Peter and I think he knew how guilty I was feeling about it, about killing the last member of my family. He said that he didn’t know how it would feel to kill the last, but he did know how it felt to kill a family member. He didn’t tell me what his mom had done, about her attacking him or trying to kill him or anything, but he told me about how you’d said to stay away and he didn’t, he wanted to see her, and he went and she was fine. She didn’t know who he was, and they talked and she was like his mom again, and then he said his first name and she freaked out, started screaming that he was trying to kill her, and, then he said she just collapsed, that she died of a massive heart attack. He said you blamed him, he knew you blamed him, you shouted and you apologized afterwards, but, he knew, he’d taken away your chance to say goodbye.” Derek explained. “It was why I didn’t bite you while you were in the coma. If it killed you, I would have taken away Stiles’ chance to say goodbye and I couldn’t have him hate me. I should have done it though. If you’d woken up sooner, you could have told us about Gerard and we could have helped Stiles before Kate had a chance to get to him.” 

“I yelled at him because I was scared, because my son nearly died on the operating table, nearly bled out because he’d gone to see his mom when I told him not to! I didn’t blame him. I’d never blame him.” Noah said looking distraught. “I should have known Stiles blamed himself, I should have made sure he knew it wasn’t his fault.” 

“Well you can tell him that, when we get him back.” Lydia said confidently, “So, we can all assume that the trauma of Stiles’ mom dying was enough to delay the onset of his powers, what else does it say?” She asked Boyd. 

“Well, it says that, often, those that don’t come in to their powers until they are older are generally more powerful, because it kind of builds up inside them or something, it has more time to accumulate or something, I don’t know how it works, maybe it’s something we need to find out more about. But, yeah, the rings, it’s um, it sounds a little like the genie and the lamp, that Stiles is bound to obey the owner of the ring, not three wishes, but, like, your wish is my command.” Boyd explained, handing the book to Isaac who continued reading. 

“It says here that the process to bind the caster to the ring is dangerous and long winded.” Isaac said, looking at the book with repulsion at some of the diagrams. “It looks like they would have had to…” He swallowed back bile, holding up the diagram instead, unable to utter the words. 

There was a drawing of a man chained to a rack and hanging from the ceiling above an altar; there was a long slice down the middle of his chest, exposing part of his ribcage, there was blood running down into a bowl on the altar below and what Derek guessed was supposed to be a magical glow was coming from the bowl. The second drawing showed the man still chained above the altar but this time he was tied above the rack, face up to the ceiling. There was a thin needle inserted into the base of his skull and another fluid ran down in to the bowl. Derek felt sick at the thought that this had happened to Stiles, that he’d been subjected to it. 

“It says they need heart blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and it needs to be done once a day for the week leading up to the full moon.” Isaac muttered and Derek wasn’t sure if he felt like being sick or running home and ripping Kate apart right now. “Stiles must have only just come in to his powers. He mustn’t have known he had magic…”

“Gerard figured it out. The night I was shot. Stiles healed me, at least partially. He stopped me dying right then and there. Gerard said that ‘it looks like he might be of some use after all’, he realised Stiles had magic and then he probably took him straight from there to Kate before he came back to get the bite, and she did this to him.” Noah growled angrily. 

“The full moon was nine days after you were shot.” Jackson said, “I remember because it was my first proper full moon as a werewolf and I struggled with my anchor, would it be possible for them to find the spell and be able to cast it within that amount of time?” 

“If Kate had anything to do with it, then, yes, without any issues, my father probably left her with instructions to carry it out, he would have planned on being there, but Scott got to him first.” Chris muttered darkly. 

“Okay, so, this is the spell they used to bind Stiles’ magic to the ring, now we know what they did, we can start searching for a way to break it.” Lydia said, snatching the book from Isaac’s hands. 

“Or we could cast our own spell?” Cora said and they all stared at her. “The full moon is in ten days, we know where Stiles is. We sneak into the house using the tunnels you built, we kidnap Stiles, cut out the tracker so Kate can’t find him and we cast our own spell on him. Then we can order him to ignore Kate’s commands and we can kill her.” 

“Yeah, that’s a great plan.” Peter said sarcastically, “Except it means chaining Stiles up and torturing him once a day for a week, tell me, are you going to be the one to cut him open so we can get his heart blood? Or are you going to let Derek do it?” 

“I, um, I hadn’t thought about that.” Cora admitted, flushing furiously. “But he’d want us to, wouldn’t he? I mean, that’s got to be better than being under Kate’s command all the time?” 

“No. I am not doing that to my son. We have the spell now. We can find a way to break it.” Noah said in determination and Derek couldn’t help but agree with him, he was certain he couldn’t hurt Stiles like that, no matter what. 

The next time Kate got in touch it was with a video to Derek’s phone, he’d heard the incoming ping of his phone and picked it up without really thinking about it, he saw it was from Kate’s number and his heart started to race, knowing whatever she had sent was going to be awful, worried that when he opened the video he would see Stiles being forced in to having sex with Kate, in fact he was certain of it. 

“What is it?” Scott asked, hearing Derek’s heart start to race. 

“It’s a video.” He muttered and everyone tensed, all of their minds going to the same thing. 

“Is it…does she…” Noah trailed off, not even able to say the words. 

“I don’t know, I haven’t watched it.” Derek replied as everyone gathered around his phone, “Do we want to? I mean, she’s trying to provoke us into reacting, she’s taunting us, watching it is just going to upset us.” He said and Noah nodded. 

“Yeah, it is, but I need to see him, I need to know he’s still alive, see with my own two eyes that he’s still hanging in there.” 

“And if it’s bad? If it’s a video of them in bed?” Lydia queried and Noah flinched. 

“Then we’ll deal with it.” Noah said with determination, “I am going to watch that video and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” 

“Same.” 

“Me too.” 

“Fine.” Derek said through gritted teeth, clicking the button and clenching his jaw as the video started to play. There was a collective sigh of relief when Stiles was stood in the kitchen rather than the bedroom, even as Kate moved into view. 

“Hey there Der-bear.” She grinned, slinging an arm around Stiles’ shoulder and smirking when he flinched at the contact, “Me and Stiles have been having so much fun in your home, haven’t we baby?” She taunted and Stiles glared at her, “Don’t you have something to say?” She asked and Stiles gritted his teeth. 

“Yeah. It’s you and I. If you’re going to taunt them, at least use proper English.” Stiles said sarcastically and Kate smacked him around the back of the head, raising an eyebrow and waiting patiently, “I belong to you.” He muttered and Kate grinned. 

“Damn right you do baby. Now, be a good boy and stay still.” She said and Stiles stilled, not even flinching when Kate extended one of her claws and ran it along Stiles’ skin, not quite hard enough to break the skin but enough to leave behind a red line. “You have no idea how powerful I feel when I order him to do absolutely anything I want.” She commented. 

“You’re still a bitch though.” Stiles said and Kate gripped his chin, breaking the skin enough that drops of blood stained her claws. 

“Don’t say another word.” Kate said and Stiles fell silent, his lips set into a firm line. “Good boy.” She taunted, “Now, I’ve been thinking, Stiles here, he’s eating you out of house and home, and that’s just not good, so, from now on, Stiles, you don’t eat until I tell you to.” She smirked, “And, don’t even get me started on what a mess he made in your bed, all that blood,” She laughed as Stiles grimaced, “so, I’ve decided, no sleeping until I tell you to either.” She grinned at the camera, “What’s really great is he can’t disobey. If he does, he’ll suffer from unimaginable pain, his organs will literally start to produce sludge, it starts to choke him to death from the inside out, not that it would actually kill him, we can’t have that, not when he’s so useful to us alive. But it doesn’t stop him trying to disobey, he’s such a firecracker, aren’t you baby? Do you think you’d be able to sleep with that pain running through your body? Do you think you’d be able to get food down your throat when your stomach is rebelling against you? How long do you think he can survive Derek? How long before his organs start to shut down from lack of sleep? Lack of nutrition? If I were you, I’d come back here before he starves.” 

The video ended and they all looked up at each other, in terms of what they had been expecting, it hadn’t been that bad, but, still, the fact that she hadn’t raped Stiles and made them all watch, it was better than they’d thought. Stiles was still alive, other than a few bruises he looked to be mainly in one piece and he was still fighting her, that was the best they could hope for, they just had to find a way to help him, break the binding spell and soon. The good news was that now they knew what the spell involved they were able to get more specific with their research and Derek prayed they were narrowing down their options, finding a solution. 

“Okay, I have good news and bad news.” Lydia announced three days later and Derek groaned. 

“Let’s hear it.” He said.

“The bad news, it’s not a spell, it’s a binding ritual.”

“The difference is?” Allison asked. 

“A spell can be broken, but, once a ritual is completed, there’s no way to reverse it.” She said and Derek paled. 

“You mean that Stiles is stuck like that? Tied to her until he dies?” Melissa whispered and Lydia smiled which confused the hell out of all of them. 

“That’s the good news. We can’t undo the ritual, or not from anything I’ve found so far, but I have found a way to change the person who benefits from the ritual.” 

“Meaning what?” Cora queried. 

“Meaning, at the moment, Kate is the one reaping the benefit, Stiles as her slave, but, I’ve found a way to change that, there’s this thing called a ‘challenging duel’, basically, binding rituals for casters look to have originated in Greece back in the sixth century BC, casters were more abundant back then, before hunters basically put them on the endangered species list, like, seriously, there’s less of them than there are werewolves, casters are pretty rare, especially one of Stiles’ power, casters are talked about in the highest regard, everyone seems to be interested in them, in a kind of ‘what can you do for me?’ kind of way, but, also, because they are so rare, everyone wants a piece of them, of course, casters are powerful and can defend themselves, but, if you got one bound to you, like Kate has, you’re basically undefeatable, nobody would go against you, really, I’m surprised nobody else already knows about Stiles’ bindings and hasn’t already tried to take control of him, because, honestly, he’d be in seriously high demand.” Lydia rambled. 

“The challenging duel babe.” Jackson prompted and Lydia nodded. 

“Right, yes, so, back then casters were kept as slaves, as soon as anyone started to show any powers, the binding ritual was performed on them and they were bound to the richest upper class man, but, that process didn’t sit well with everyone, you know, sometimes the richest one had several casters under his control, whereas the second richest only had one, that kind of thing. Anyway, so, somebody designed these ‘challenging duels’, where if you weren’t happy with your caster, or if you wanted a specific caster that somebody else already owned, you could challenge them to a duel.” 

“So, we challenge Kate to a duel, she refuses or she gets Stiles to kill us all. Great plan.” Scott muttered sarcastically. 

“That’s the great bit, the instant the challenge is issued, Stiles will lose his magic until the duel is completed! And, she has to duel, otherwise he won’t get it back!” Lydia beamed, “It’s a win-win. She can’t use Stiles’ magic to kill us, and if she refuses, Stiles won’t get his magic back and she can’t order him to do anything.” 

“There’s got to be a downside to this?” Peter said, “There usually is.” 

“Yes, well, if she chose not to complete the duel, Stiles would die. So, like, um, if I challenged her and she chose not to duel, even if she left without Stiles, until the duel was completed, Stiles’ magic would begin to turn on him, it would be like what happens when he disobeys orders, but, slower, and, disobeying orders won’t kill him, it just makes him feel like he’s dying, but, this, if she didn’t duel, if she walked away, his magic would turn against him, it would kill him, painfully, and there’s nothing we could do about it. It’s not like we could just take away his magic permanently, it’s part of him now, or, it always has been, but it didn’t appear until now.” Lydia explained and Derek felt hope flood through him. 

“Okay, so, if we challenge Kate and we win, we kill her…”

“Yes, it has to be to the death.” Lydia clarified. 

“Then, we can free Stiles?” 

“Erm, no.” She sighed, “I haven’t found a way to do that yet. Whoever issues the challenge, whoever kills her, they’d become Stiles’ new master, until we found a way to reverse the ritual.” There was silence in the room as they all processed that, that Stiles would have to obey their wishes. 

“Noah should do it.” Derek said a moment later and the man looked at him in surprise. “He’s your son, you’d never order him to do something that would hurt him or upset him, you’d always have his best interests at heart.” Noah pursed his lips. 

“Even if I ordered him to leave town with me?” 

“If you had to order him to do it then you know he didn’t want to do it, and I don’t think you’d be able to live with the guilt of forcing your son to do something he didn’t want to do.” Derek replied simply. 

“Why wouldn’t you do it?” Sam asked as he climbed onto Derek’s lap and made himself comfortable and Derek shrugged. 

“I wouldn’t ever want to have that kind of power over Stiles.” He replied, thinking about all the times Stiles had made him smile, all the times that had made Derek fall in love with him, even though he hadn’t realised it until it was too late, “I like that he argues with me, that he calls me on my bullshi…I mean, rubbish….” He said, smiling down at Sam who grinned. 

“What else?” Sam asked. 

“He, well, when you get to spend some time with him, you’ll realise, Stiles is like, he’s like the moon, which, you’ll learn when you have your first change, there’s nothing quite like the moon, he shines, not like the sun, but, it’s a soothing light. It calms me, whenever I’m near him, he makes me feel like I can breathe for the first time, like I’ve been underwater and I’ve been holding my breath my entire life and when he’s there, everything just...stills, like I’m finally seeing the world above the water for the first time, finally taking that breath that I need, everything makes sense. And he’s powerful, not with magic, although, he has that now too, but I mean...You know how the moon changes the tides, the gravitational pull from the moon forces the tides to change and, god, Stiles is so like that, he can do anything he sets his mind to, he’s so stubborn and determined and he’s like gravity, he draws everything in, and, you just, you feel like anything is possible with him, that if there’s a way to do something, Stiles will find a way to do it, even if sometimes it’s stupid things, he’ll find a way, because he won’t give up, if it’s important to him, it you’re important to him, he will never give up on you. The moon drowns out all the other stars in the sky and Stiles is that, nothing can compare to him, compared to him, everybody else is just dull, bland, he lights everything, like I didn’t realise I was blind until I met him, he just, he shines, his laugh makes you feel like your heart has skipped a beat and you’ll do anything to hear it again, he makes the darkest night seem bright, there’s always hope when he’s around, and you know he’ll always be around, there to guide you, there to watch over you, support you, comfort you, it won’t always be obvious, it’ll be a text or a call or a pat on the shoulder or a bad joke, but, other times, he’ll be shining so brightly that it’ll be impossible to ignore him, he’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with you, facing down some of the most terrifying things you’ve ever seen, and you’ll be scared and you’ll look to him and suddenly you won’t be worried, because Stiles is there with you, and if he’s there, you know everything else is going to be okay, because he’s Stiles, he’s perfect.” Derek explained and Sam was staring at him in wonder, Derek flushed brightly when he realised that everyone else was looking at him in the exact same way.

“I knew,” Noah cleared his throat, sounding like he was about to burst into tears, “I knew you loved him, but you really love him. You really feel that way about him?” 

“Yeah, I do.” Derek replied, not knowing what else to say, he’d never imagined being able to confess his feelings like that, he just, he wanted Sam to know how special Stiles was, so far the only interaction the kid had had with Stiles was Stiles saving his life and then creating the tomb that held his parents bodies, he wanted Sam to know what Stiles was like, what the Stiles he knew was like, he hadn’t really thought about the fact the rest of the pack were all listening to his confession too and he felt like a complete idiot and couldn’t hide the blush on the cheeks. 

“So,” Isaac said, clearing his throat and breaking the moment, which Derek was really grateful for, “Does this book say anything about how to challenge her to a duel? I assume it’s not just going to be a simple, throw down a glove kind of thing?” He asked and Lydia smiled. 

“It says here…” She held up the book and showed them the page in front of her, Derek stared at the words in front of him and knew he had absolutely no idea how to say it. 

“Does it work if I just say it in English?” Noah asked and Lydia shook her head. 

“No, we can’t get that lucky, but I can teach you,” Lydia said, “Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” She said, “It basically means that ‘I challenge you to the bindings on your caster’, we’ll go over and over it until you can pronounce it fluently, until we all can, just in case, I don’t know, if one of us runs into Kate before Noah or something…” She said, trailing off quietly when Derek stared at her. 

“Noah is the one who is going to be Stiles’ master or whatever, at least until we find a way to free him permanently.” Derek said. 

“I’d rather he was bound to one of us than Kate. As much as I hate the thought of being in charge of Stiles, I’d rather he answered to me than to Kate.” Melissa argued. 

“I agree.” Scott said and Derek glared at him, “Look, we all hate the thought of Stiles actually being forced to listen to any of us, like you said, he makes his own choices about right and wrong, what he can live with and what he can’t and he stands by them, the thought of being able to just order him into submission, it sits wrong with me, the thought of it makes me feel sick, but, if it came to a choice, between Kate doing it to him or me doing it, then I’d pick me every time. Lydia is right, we should all learn how to say it, and, the first person to get the chance to challenge Kate, goes for it.”

“Fine.” Derek agreed reluctantly, “But, whatever plan we come up with, I want Noah to have the chance first, if he can’t do it for any reason, then fine, whoever has the opportunity, they go for it, but, Noah first.” Derek insisted and everyone nodded. 

“Alright, well, now we need a plan, I mean, we can’t just walk up to the front door and challenge Kate, she could kill us before we got a singular word out.” Erica said sounding agitated, there was a way to help Stiles, now they just needed to get to him. 

“We don’t walk up to the front door, we take the tunnels under the house, they’ll bring us out in the basement, we get in there, and I can use the panic room,” Derek said, meaning the hidden room he had installed in the basement that wasn’t on any of the original plans, it was big enough to hold the entire pack and keep them safe from any outside threat, it also had cameras that showed every room in the house, it would let them know exactly where Stiles, Kate and her cronies were in the house. “As soon as we know where they are, we can wait until Stiles is away from Kate so he can’t freeze us before the challenge is issued, Noah challenges her, and then we get Stiles back.” 

“What about the fact Noah actually has to beat her in a fight to the death and she is a freaking were-jaguar!?” Chris argued. 

“There’s nothing in here about it having to be one-on-one, just that it has to be a fight to the death, that one of the duellers has to die before Stiles’ magic would be returned, either the owner or the challenger. Noah challenges her, the entire pack attacks, we kill her, Stiles belongs to Noah until we figure out how to reverse the ritual, or, maybe, do one of our own that counters the effects or something, we’ll figure it out.” Lydia said.

“Great, so, we have a plan, we know where they are. Let’s do it.” Isaac said enthusiastically and Derek grinned, they were going to get Stiles back!

They drove up a service road about three miles from the house, hiking in to the woods a few hundred meters before Derek opened the entrance to the tunnels that led to the house, he’d been nervous, worried that Kate would have found the entrance in the house and then booby trapped this entrance but it seemed like luck was on their side and Derek wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, instead heading into the tunnels, the pack behind him, all of them moving as silently as possible towards the house at the other end, towards Stiles. 

Derek motioned for everyone to stay still and behind him as he cracked open the door that was invisible from the other side, the design of it was so that if anyone came in to the basement, they wouldn’t be able to immediately see where the pack had run to, thankfully, Kate didn’t seem to know the door existed and, as Derek looked around, it became evident that there was nobody else in the basement. He moved quickly, crossing the floor silently and sliding the far light switch to the right to reveal a number lock screen, he keyed in the code and another panel slid away, revealing the panic room that he had set up in secret, he waved the pack across, all of them piling in to the panic room before Derek slid the panel shut behind them. They were safe in here, the walls were soundproofed, as long as they didn’t all start screaming from the top of their lungs, Kate would have no idea they were here. He moved towards the computer screens on the far wall, switching them on and watching as the views from the cameras began to appear on screen. 

“Where are they?” Erica whispered, her gaze looking from screen to screen in an attempt to spot Stiles. “There!” She said victoriously, pointing to a screen that showed Kate out on the front lawn with Stiles and the three men she had with her. “They’re outside.”

“That’s a good a place as any to do this. I mean, they won’t be expecting us to come from the house, there’s plenty of space to fight, we know the terrain, it’s better out there than in here, in here there’s more chance of Kate cutting Noah off, of killing him before we kill her, and then it’s game over, we only get one chance at this.” Lydia said solemnly and they all nodded. 

“Okay, let’s do this then.” Noah said, muttering the phrase under his breath and Lydia smiling at him in encouragement. 

“Perfect.” She said and Noah nodded firmly. 

“I’ve got this. Stiles is coming home.” Noah said with determination, following Derek out of the panic room and up the basement steps, making sure that Sam stayed down there with Allison, that she would take him back out through the tunnel if anything went wrong. 

“Get up you pathetic piece of shit!” Kate shouted as Stiles tried to get back to his feet, he was fighting the three of them again and losing, it didn’t help that he was exhausted, he hadn’t slept in four days, hadn’t eaten in four days, he was losing his mind, his ability to concentrate was basically gone, it took everything he had just to keep himself upright and now Kate wanted him to fight, he had managed to knock James out but Matt and Daniel were still coming for him and he was exhausted, he just wanted to sleep, he’d give anything to be able to sleep, just for a few hours. 

“Get the hell away from my son!” Noah shouted and Stiles turned around towards the house, surprised to see the entire pack flooding out on to the front porch, he couldn’t believe it, after everything he’d done to keep them alive and they’d walked right back here, Kate was going to kill them and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

“No.” He gasped in terror, in denial, barely louder than a whisper, unable to believe what he was seeing. After everything he’d done to try and save them, and they were going to die regardless. 

“Well isn’t this a lovely surprise! I’ve been getting angsty for my next bit of fun.” She taunted, “Stiles, hold them still, let’s start with daddy for real this time.” Stiles tried to fight the order, but he was so exhausted there was no fight left in him, as hard as he tried, he felt his magic reply to the order and instantly everyone on the porch stilled. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” Noah called out and Stiles felt his magic stall out, there was a pain in his chest and he felt like he couldn’t move, but, it wasn’t Kate’s orders holding him in place, he wasn’t sure what it was, but, more importantly for Stiles, was the fact that the pack were all moving forwards, moving off the porch and towards where Kate was stood, the smirk falling from her face as they moved forwards. 

“Stiles! I said hold them still!” She shouted and Noah smirked. 

“He can’t.” He grinned, “I’ve challenged you for the rights to the bindings on Stiles, right now he’s powerless, either you die or I do, that’s the only way he gets his magic back. You could choose not to fight, but, then he’s useless to you, he’ll have no magic and eventually, it’ll kill him.” Noah said firmly, he’d worried that Kate might choose not to fight, that she would let Stiles die from his magic rather than fight the pack, but he had to believe that Kate thought Stiles was more use to her alive, that she’d fight to keep him. And if she didn’t, if she chose to leave without a fight, well, Stiles wanted to die, at least this way he would be free of her orders for a few minutes before it all ended for him, it would give them a chance to say goodbye without Stiles having to spit Kate’s hatred at them. He prayed with everything he had that it wouldn’t come to that though and thankfully he was right. 

“You want to challenge me to a fight to the death?” Kate laughed, her claws already protruding, “You can’t beat me old man.” She taunted. 

“I don’t have to beat you; you just have to die before I do.” Noah snarled in reply as the entire pack started to growl, their fangs extending, their claws protruding, for the first time Kate looked worried and Stiles felt something like hope spring in his chest, they could do this, they could beat Kate, he could be free of her. 

Why did he get his hopes up? Why was he such an idiot? 

Kate spoiled their entire plan. It all went to hell in an instant and none of them had prepared for it. Kate analysed the pack in front of her, looked at Stiles who was still standing still nearby, a look of pain on his features, then back to Daniel, Matt and James behind her, James was still recovering from where Stiles had knocked him out, and Matt and Daniel both had superficial wounds, it wasn’t like she could order Stiles to heal them. If they fought the pack then they would all die and Stiles’ magic would be lost to her, she wasn’t going to allow that to happen. It only took her a split second to come up with the plan, after all, she was a fast thinker, that was what had kept her alive so long in the first place. She pulled out her gun and, before any of them could react, shot Noah in the chest. 

“No!” Stiles screamed in denial, moving forward towards his dad. 

“Grab him!” Kate ordered and Matt and Daniel surged forwards, grabbing Stiles’ arms and pulling him backwards, away from Noah and the pack, towards their winnebago, Kate moving after them with James while Derek and the pack ran forwards, several of them racing towards Kate and Stiles while the others rushed to try and help a fallen Noah. 

“Dad! No! Let me heal him! Please! Dad!” Stiles screamed, pulling against the grip that Matt and Daniel had on his arms as they practically ran towards the winnebago. 

“How? You’ve got no magic. You can’t heal him until one of us is dead, and believe me, daddy is going to be the one to die.” She taunted, “Get him in the van.” Kate shouted, shoving Stiles into the van and laughing at the pack behind her. Scott was snarling, racing after the camper van, desperate to get to Stiles even as it gradually got further out of reach, knowing it was useless, he wasn’t fast enough, he had failed Stiles again. The rest of the pack fell back, realising they had lost their chance, that Kate had escaped with Stiles, they were all tending to Noah’s injury, Melissa was applying pressure to the wound, but it was obvious it wouldn’t help, Noah was going to die and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

“Dad! Dad! Please! No! Dad!” Stiles shouted as the door was slammed in his face and his dad and the pack were blocked from view, he continued struggling against Matt and Daniel, trying to get free, to get to his father, instead, the butt of a gun was smashed in to his temple and everything faded to black. 

“Hang on Noah.” Derek said, pressing hard against the wound and looking to Melissa who shook her head sadly, the wound was fatal, Noah was dying and there was nothing any of them could do about it. 

“Get him, please, don’t stop trying to save him.” Noah gasped, blood bubbling from his lips. 

“No, no…Stiles needs you Noah. You can’t leave him now.” Derek said in determination as an idea came to him, “I can give you the bite, you might not survive, but, it’s better odds than right now. Say yes.” Derek ordered and Noah stared at him for a moment before nodding and Derek didn’t hesitate, biting down on Noah’s shoulder and praying that it took. 

“Derek, they’re getting away.” Peter shouted, observing the winnebago that was already heading away from the house. Derek was torn, he wanted to go after Kate, after Stiles, but, right now, he needed Noah to live, if Noah died, it would destroy Stiles, they all knew it, if Noah died, Stiles would crumble and there would be no hope of getting him back, even if they freed him from Kate, Stiles would never be free from the guilt and grief that would consume him. 

“Come on Noah. Don’t give up.” Derek urged as Noah’s heart started to slow, until, suddenly, it stopped beating. “No. No. No.” Derek said, surging forwards and beginning chest compressions, forcing Noah’s heart to keep beating, “He just needs time, the bite needs time to take, come on Noah, Stiles needs you.” Derek pleaded as he kept pumping at Noah’s chest, keeping his heart going as best he could. “Come on.” He begged, he couldn’t lose Noah, losing Noah meant losing Stiles and they couldn’t lose either of them, this had to work, it had to. 

“Derek, stop, he’s gone.” Melissa muttered a few minutes later, tears streaming down her cheeks, but Derek refused to give up, he wasn’t going to lose Noah, he refused to. 

“No, no, just a little longer, the bite has to take, it has to.” He insisted, watching the wound in Noah’s shoulder, watching the bullet wound in his chest, still trying to apply pressure to the wound while trying to keep his heart beating, “Just, help me, help me save him, please.” Derek begged, not sure who he was begging, who he was asking, what any of them could do, god, he should have challenged Kate himself, he’d insisted it be Noah for Stiles’ sake and now Noah was dead and Stiles was still her prisoner and she wouldn’t be so stupid to give them another chance, it was all his fault. “Come on Noah, please, please.” Derek begged, he could see the entire pack looking at him with pity, could see the tears on their cheeks, could feel their own guilt and grief pouring off them, but it didn’t stop him, he had to keep going. 

Finally, what could have been minutes or hours later, Derek had no idea, Noah’s heart let out a beat and Derek almost collapsed in relief, his hands trembling as he wiped them across his face, listening to Noah’s heart thud out a steady rhythm, the bite on his shoulder already beginning to heal, as was the gunshot wound to his chest. Noah’s chest rose and fell steadily and then, a moment later, he opened his eyes, blinking at Derek a few times before his eyes flashed blue and he sat upright a little unsteadily, glancing at Derek gratefully when he grabbed his upper arm to keep him steady. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay, it’s going to be okay.” Derek reassured him as Noah looked around a few times, taking in the changes, his eyesight suddenly so much more enhanced that it had been before. Becoming a werewolf wasn’t something he’d ever planned on happening, but, he wasn’t ready to leave, wasn’t ready to leave his son in this world without either parent, not when Stiles was so alone and hurt, no, he needed to be there for Stiles, he needed to save him, one way or another. 

“Where is he?” Noah asked a few moments later and Derek looked at the ground guiltily. 

“I had to choose between saving your life or letting them escape for now. Stiles needs you. You need to be alive.” Derek whispered and Noah looked like he wanted to scream in frustration, his eyes flashing blue, before he took a steadying breath, attempting to get his wolf under control before nodding. 

“We need to go after them.” Noah said, starting to stand up and swaying slightly, glancing around when Sam came running out of the house with Allison just behind him, Sam rushing to his side and hugging Noah quickly before turning to Derek and clinging to his leg. 

“You need to heal, the bite has saved your life, but you’re still healing.” Melissa whispered and Noah stared at her. 

“That bitch still has my son. We need to get to him. We need to finish the fight, otherwise, his magic will kill him.” Noah said. 

“I don’t think it will.” Lydia muttered, “Noah, your heart stopped, technically, you were dead, Kate won, Stiles’ magic will have returned and Kate won’t be so stupid as to let us get another chance to challenge her, we need to come up with a new plan.” 

Stiles woke up slowly, the first thing he was aware of was that they were still on the move, no doubt far away from Beacon Hills, more importantly, in Stiles’ opinion anyway, he could feel his magic had returned. He knew what that meant, Kate was still alive, his magic had returned. His father was dead. For real this time. There was no saving him. No way to bring him back. He was dead. The tears sprang to his eyes and he swiped at them furiously, he hadn’t cried since his mom had died, okay, he’d cried in pain, more than once, but, actual tears, actually showing that weakness, no, he wasn’t going to start now, he wouldn’t let Kate see him break, he refused to allow her to see him break, to think that she had been the one to break him. 

“Aww, baby’s awake.” Kate mocked from somewhere above him and Stiles tilted his head to glare at her. “What’s wrong sweetheart? Putting together the facts and realising daddy’s dead for real this time?” She taunted and Stiles wanted to rip her throat out, wanted to watch her choke to death on her own blood, he prayed she could read his mind, that she could see what he planned to do to her the second he had any opportunity. 

“Now he’s awake, get him to heal these cuts, they sting like a bitch.” James complained from somewhere up front and Kate laughed. 

“Sure, pull in up ahead, he can heal you and then we’re going to have some fun.” Kate smiled and Stiles dreaded to think what that meant, Kate’s idea of fun usually ended up in him bleeding one way or another. She grabbed his arm and pulled him across the floor, forcing him to sit in between her legs, her fingers tangling in his hair and pulling on it roughly, Stiles did his best not to wince and he hoped he succeeded at least slightly.

The Winnebago pulled over to the side of the road and Matt, Daniel and James all moved back towards Stiles, grinning as he was forced to heal them of their injuries, something that his dad had been denied. As he healed them one by one, they leaned over him, kissing Kate passionately, practically forcing their crotches into Stiles’ face, he scrunched his eyes closed and did his best to turn his face away but it didn’t work very well, still, it was better than nothing.

“Now, I’ve decided, we’re going to make a little phone call, I want to see their reactions when they realise you are under my power again. When they get to see the punishment that you suffer because of them.” Kate taunted, “I mean, daddy’s dead because of you, you need to be punished for that, don’t you? Because you failed him, he needed you, he needed your magic to save him and what did you do? Nothing. You left him to die. You deserve to be punished for abandoning him when he needed you the most.” Kate said and Stiles felt the tears fill his eyes again, his dad was gone, he was dead and it was all Stiles’ fault. He fought back a wave of grief, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stave off the tears, he would not break, he would not let her see him break. 

He was weak with lack of sleep and lack of food and all he wanted to do was eat until he passed out and then sleep for a month, his head was spinning, his chest was throbbing painfully, he wanted his dad, he wanted to hug him, hold him, tell him how much he loved him, he wanted his dad to hug him, to tell him it was all going to be okay, that his dad loved him, that he forgave him, and he’d never get that, he’d never have that chance. His dad was gone. He was dead. He watched as Kate pulled out her phone and dialled a number, hauling Stiles up off the floor and into her side so that he would be visible on the screen. 

Derek saw the video call coming in on his phone and clenched his jaw in rage, knowing that Kate would be calling to taunt him over the fact Stiles still belonged to her. His wolf was howling at him, telling him to go after them, to issue his own challenge and claw Kate’s throat out, but, he couldn’t, they’d lost the advantage, they had to wait until Kate let her guard down, until they could catch her unawares. He answered the call regardless, saw Kate smiling at him, Stiles sat next to her, his face blank like he was in shock, that didn’t surprise Derek at all. 

“Hey Der-bear.” She greeted brightly and Derek growled at her. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” He said, it wasn’t like he expected it to work over the phone, but he had to try. 

“Cute.” She taunted, “Stiles, cut your wrist.” She ordered and Stiles pulled out a knife and sliced it along his wrist without a second’s hesitation and Derek snarled angrily. “Looks like it doesn’t work long distance sweetheart.” She grinned. 

“We’re going to help you Stiles.” He insisted and Stiles glared at him. 

“You’re a monster.” Stiles spat angrily and Derek had to remind himself that Stiles didn’t mean it, he didn’t want to say it. 

“Exactly.” Kate smirked, “That monster right there sent your daddy out to be slaughtered, he didn’t challenge me himself because he knew it was a lost cause. He let your dad do it and now he’s dead. It’s your fault Stiles. You should have never run from me in the first place. You know, I bet they won’t even bother trying to rescue you now, they only did it to make your dad believe they cared, now he’s dead, they don’t give a shit about you, but you already knew that, didn’t you?” 

“Stiles, don’t believe her, don’t believe a word she says.” Derek said triumphantly as he pulled Noah into his side, showing them both that he was alive and well. 

“I’m okay kiddo, it’ll take more than that bitch to kill me. You keep fighting her.” Noah said while Kate and Stiles both stared at them in shock, a wide grin breaking out on Stiles’ features, his eyes lighting up with hope. 

“How are you alive!?” Kate fumed and Noah smirked at her. 

“Next time aim for the head sweetheart, I know I will be. I’m coming for my son and nothing you can do will stop me.” Noah growled, his eyes flashing blue dangerously and Stiles’ smile fell, his eyes going cold as Kate paused for a moment and then laughed. 

“Oh, poor baby, you didn’t even get to tell him how much you loved him.” She mocked and Noah and Derek both stared at her in confusion, “What is he Stiles?” 

“He’s the enemy. He’s a monster.” Stiles replied quietly, not looking up from his lap and Kate grinned at them, aware of the distress on their features. 

“What do we do to enemies?” 

“We show them no mercy. They cannot see anything other than anger or hatred. They touch me, they get hurt. I show them no weakness.” Stiles muttered and Kate beamed. 

“I’ve no doubt that I’ll be seeing you shortly Noah, but, the instant your son sees you, or any of that pathetic pack, he is under orders to freeze you in place and stop you from uttering a single word, and, if he doesn’t behave, if he tries to fight my orders, this?” She grabbed the knife that Stiles had cut his wrist with and slammed it into his shoulder, Stiles let out a whimper of pain as he gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore the pain, “This is just the beginning of the pain I’ll inflict on him.” She smirked before ending the call. 

“Stiles knows you’re alive, I know we could have used the surprise as a tactical advantage, but, Stiles needed to know you were alive, we need to give him a reason to keep fighting her, to keep going, if he gives up, if he loses hope, it’s over.” Derek insisted and Noah nodded, fighting back the tears in his eyes. 

“I know. I know he needed to know. He needed to see me alive.” Noah agreed. “We have to get to him, we have to stop her, challenge her, before she hurts him again.” 

“We just need to come up with a new plan.” Scott said.


	5. Chapter 5

Stiles was relieved that his dad was alive, the sheer joy, the grief that had been crushing him with the knowledge of his father’s death had vanished, his dad was alive, he was alive and he was going to be okay, he was with the pack, he was safe. Whatever Kate did to him, it didn’t matter, his dad was alive, that was all that mattered to Stiles. He knew whatever Kate planned to do next, it wouldn’t be good, he could see it in the set of Kate’s features, in the way that she paced restlessly across the floor of the winnebago, her claws were out and she was obviously planning something awful, still, Stiles would suffer through it, whatever it was, because his father was alive and the pack were going to come for him. He had more hope now than he had had in months, they were going to beat Kate, she was going to die. Stiles didn’t care if it killed him in the process, all he cared about was Kate dying, of her never being a threat to anybody else again. 

After a few hours of driving Kate ordered him to find the nearest werewolf and Stiles complied as reluctantly as he could, he didn’t know if this was going to be a hunt or something else completely, the look in Kate’s eyes made him worry that whatever was going to happen was going to be bad.

It didn’t take them long to capture the wolf, he guessed it had probably been a day or two since his dad had attempted to change the bindings in place on Stiles, it had been two of the longest days of Stiles’ life, knowing that the pack knew how to at least free him from Kate, knowing that his dad was now a werewolf, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to tell his dad how much he loved him unless Kate’s orders were removed, it was unbearable and Stiles was certain he was going out of his mind. The wolf was alone, an omega, Stiles led them to the hotel he was staying in, Kate knocked on the door and the instant he opened the door, Stiles froze him. He hated it, hated doing whatever Kate ordered, but, when he looked around the room and saw a woman dead on the bed, having obviously been raped, and a man tied up to the radiator at the far side of the room, evidently the wolf had been planning on raping him next, for the first time he didn’t think he’d feel guilty about Kate killing this particular wolf. 

“What do you want?” The wolf hissed angrily as the human male whimpered in fear, tugging on the ropes uselessly until Daniel moved towards him and undid them, the man thanking him repeatedly as he stood unsteadily on his feet. 

“Oh, don’t thank me just yet.” Daniel said, putting a gun to the guy’s head, “What are we doing with them boss?” 

“Matt, go rent three rooms at the nearest motel, ground level, at the back out of sight, I want to make sure we have no visitors.” Kate said and Matt exited the room without a backwards glance, “Stiles, you’re going to walk both of them down to the van, no letting them scream or shout or whisper for help, in fact, they’re not going to be able to speak at all, they’re going to walk out of this room and down to the van and they’re not going to be able to alert anybody that anything is wrong. Is that clear?” 

“Are you fucking insane!? That monster raped and murdered my girlfriend in front of my very eyes! You want me to leave her here!? Let him walk out of here!?” The man shouted and Kate smirked. 

“I wasn’t talking to you…” She looked at him then at Stiles, “Don’t think I haven’t learned from past mistakes Stiles….name?” She prompted. 

“Henry.” 

“I wasn’t talking to you Henry. Now, be quiet, before I order him to do it for you.” Kate grinned and Henry paled, looking at Stiles with fear. 

“And you? What’s your name?” Kate said, turning to the werewolf in front of her who was still struggling against Stiles’ magic. 

“Mike.” The wolf snarled angrily and Kate smiled. 

“Okay, Henry, Mike, if you behave yourselves, there’s every chance you’re going to get to have a lot of fun here with Stiles before the night is out.” Kate smirked and Stiles felt the blood drain from his face, he knew what she was planning and the thought of it made him sick to his stomach. 

“I don’t want any fun with him!” Henry shouted in outrage. 

“Oh, you’re not going to have any choice in the matter sweetie, besides, I can definitely change your mind on that one.” Kate replied, “Now, Stiles, are we clear? Take them to the van, don’t let them speak, don’t let them move other than to walk to the van and they’re not allowed to let anyone know that there is anything wrong. Do you understand your orders?” She snarled and Stiles grimaced, nodding in agreement despite the fact it was the last thing he wanted. “Good boy. Alright, lets go.” She said, indicating that he should lead them out of the room, Stiles tried not to look at the way Henry’s face went slack with terror when his body moved against his will, he didn’t need to look at him to know that the man was thinking Stiles was a monster, another monster hurting him, just like Mike, just like Kate and the others here with them, he was just as bad, he was worse. 

When they arrived at the motel, Matt was already waiting for them outside the middle room, Stiles felt his stomach churning, he was going to be sick, if she was planning what he thought she was planning, he was going to puke. He marched Mike and Henry into the room without incident, trying to fight his magic every step of the way and failing miserably, Kate, Matt, James and Daniel followed in after them, Kate ordering him to keep Henry and Mike still while she organised everything exactly as she wanted. 

Stiles stood between the two of them, gritting his teeth, his hands clenched in to fists to hide the trembling in his fingers, he couldn’t do anything other than wait for Kate to decide his fate and he felt sick at the thought of what she was planning, he glanced around the room, there were two double beds side by side on one side of the room, a small table and sofa on the other side of the room and a little kitchen area to the back, there was a door off to one side which Stiles assumed was the bathroom, it wasn’t anything special, nothing memorable about it, it could be a motel room in pretty much any motel in the country, he scrunched his eyes shut and tried to block out the sound of Kate’s laughter as Daniel and James returned from the van, several bags on their arms that Stiles knew would hold various tools, tools that would no doubt hurt him before the night was out. 

Kate pulled out her phone and handed it to Matt who started filming as Kate stepped into view, smirking at the camera and then slinging an arm around Stiles’ shoulder. 

Going back into the Hale house after Kate had driven off with Stiles had been the worst thing, the smell had hit them all instantly, Stiles’ blood, his fear, no, his terror, his hatred, his despair. Stiles had been hurt in this house and there was nothing any of them could do. Derek ripped his bed apart with his bare hands, throwing the remains into bin bags and depositing them outside with what looked like half their furniture.

“At least we hadn’t been in the house long enough to get comfortable.” Jackson commented as he dumped another bag next to Derek’s. “We’ll build another, or buy new furniture, or, whatever. Just, we’ll fix it Derek. I know we will.” 

“How? How can we? Stiles is her prisoner. She knows we know how to free him from her. We’ve lost the element of surprise. How are we supposed to save him? How are we supposed to make this okay for him?” 

“You’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with. This is Stiles. He’s always surprised me. He’s always got back up and tried again, no matter what. He won’t give up. I know he won’t.” Jackson said confidently and Derek wished he could have that confidence. 

The next few days passed in a blur, Derek was aware of everyone going to bed at one point or another, he slept downstairs since he hadn’t replaced his bed yet, he’d shown Sam to one of the bedrooms upstairs and Sam had gone quietly. He’d spent some time with Noah, teaching him how to find his anchor, Noah seemed to find it easily, it was Stiles, it was his son, his son was the one thing that would always remind him of his humanity, remind him just how much he loved Stiles, how he would do anything for him. Derek wished he’d been able to find his anchor so easily, originally it had been his pack, then anger, then Stiles, not that he’d ever told Stiles that, but, still, Noah seemed to have taken to being a werewolf with ease, all he was focused on was getting Stiles back. Derek didn’t want to think about how the man would handle it if they didn’t, he wasn’t even sure how he would handle it, he shook his head as if to rid the thought from his mind, it wasn’t an option. They would get Stiles back. There was no other choice.

Derek’s phone vibrated with an incoming message when they were sat in the only seats that didn’t stink of Kate and her men. He opened it up, not surprised to see it was a new video message from Kate, he knew it would no doubt be brutal, no doubt show Kate torturing Stiles, hurting him, he didn’t want to see, but, he had to, he had to know what was happening to Stiles because of him, he had to see that he was still alive, that he was still fighting, that he hadn’t given up, that he would hold on until they saved him. 

“I’ve got a new video.” He muttered quietly, not really surprised when all the pack turned to look at him, Melissa ushered Sam out of the living room and into the kitchen, telling them all that she was going to get Sam to help her start on dinner and the rest of them could come join her shortly. Derek knew that it was her way of keeping Sam out of the room and he couldn’t help but be grateful, whatever was on this video, he wanted to protect Sam from it. He waited until everybody had gathered around his phone, taking a steadying breath and then pressing play, clenching his jaw when Kate appeared on screen, Stiles was stood behind her, partially blocked from view, but the two men on either side of him weren’t and Derek was sure he’d never seen them before. Instead he looked at Stiles, saw the dark bags under his eyes, saw the paleness of his skin, the exhaustion in his eyes, the defeated slump of his shoulders, saw the way his t-shirt hung too loose on his frame, how long since he’d been allowed to sleep? To eat? It was much too long in Derek’s opinion; he was almost certain that the only reason Stiles was still upright was because of Kate’s control over him.

“Hi Der-bear, I thought you’d want to see what’s about to happen to your little human here, what’s going to happen to him because of you, because you had to challenge me, you had to try and get him back, well, you tried, you failed, and, Stiles? He’s the one that gets to pay the price.” She smirked, moving out of view and returning with a small knife, Derek glared at the phone, wishing he’d been there, that he could rip the knife from her hand and slit her throat instead. 

“What the hell are you going to do with that!?” The man on the left asked nervously, looking at Kate and Stiles with terror in his features. 

“Henry, honestly, sweetheart, you don’t have to be nervous, you’re going to get to have such a good time.” Kate cooed softly, trailing a finger along his cheek, before turning back to the camera, “This is Henry, he’s a human, a terrified human, but, still, human, and, let’s be honest, he’s got plenty of reasons to be terrified, I mean, Stiles could snap his neck with a thought if that’s what he wanted.” She turned towards the other man in the room, “And this is Mike, he’s a werewolf, we found him in a hotel room with Henry and his girlfriend, sadly, Mike here had already had too much fun with Henry’s girlfriend and she didn’t survive, the sex was just a little too rough for her, right?” Kate mocked and Henry looked like he was about to burst into tears while Mike just glared at her, “Thankfully we got to Mike before he could do the same to Henry. And that’s very lucky, we wouldn’t have wanted him to be too satisfied, not when he’s going to have a lot more fun before the night is out.” 

Kate turned to Stiles, trailing her fingers over his cheek, his jaw, and Mike’s eyes moved from Kate to Stiles, no longer looking angry, instead looking interested, curious about what she could possibly mean, Stiles shuddered under her fingers, looking like he was going to puke, and Mike almost grinned, Derek wanted to rip the man apart. 

“Now, what you don’t know about Stiles, something you’ll find very interesting, is that his blood has a certain…potency.” Kate continued, grabbing Stiles’ wrist and trailing the knife across the skin of his wrist until blood welled up there. 

“I’m not touching him! He’s a child! He’s a kid!” Henry interrupted looking revolted and Derek thanked god that at least one of them had some principles. 

“I’m so glad you said that Henry, it’s just going to prove my point.” She raised Stiles’ wrist towards Henry’s face, “Stiles, make sure you’re ready to hold him.” She ordered and Derek didn’t understand what she meant by that, could only watch in confusion as Kate raised Stiles’ bleeding wrist to Henry’s lips and then forced his mouth open until a drop of Stiles’ blood dripped in to his mouth. The change was instantaneous, Henry’s pupils dilated, he turned to look towards Stiles and seemed to be fighting against his magic in order to get close to Stiles, to get to him, Stiles looked like he was about to be sick and Kate was grinning widely. 

“God, I want you, I want you so badly, I need you, I need to fuck you.” Henry said, straining against the magic holding him in place and Kate smiled wider. 

“You see, Stiles’ blood is a very powerful aphrodisiac, if you take it on a regular basis,” She paused and licked at the blood on his wrist, sighing with delight as she swallowed a few drops, “it just makes sure you have the most incredible orgasms of your life, but, if you’ve never tasted it before, or not had it for a while, it will drive you wild, and the only thing you’ll want to do, is get close to the person responsible.” She grinned as the camera zoomed in on the struggling Henry before shifting to focus on Stiles who was so pale he looked like he was about to pass out. “Now, here comes the real fun Derek, make sure you watch carefully. Stiles, you’re going to do two things for me once I tell you to, firstly, you’re going to release Henry from the magic holding him in place, and two, you’re not going to stop him from doing whatever he wants, you’re not going to fight him, you’re not going to hurt him. Are we clear?” Kate smirked and Derek thought he was going to be sick; he couldn’t believe Kate was going to do this. 

Stiles glared at Kate with pure hatred in his eyes, he was trembling in place, as if he was already trying to fight the orders she was giving him, before, a moment later, his gaze went to the floor and he nodded in defeat, submitting silently. 

“Good boy. Now, do as I say.” Kate said and they all watched with horror as Stiles seemed to fight the order for a few brief seconds before Henry suddenly surged forward, slamming his lips into Stiles’, grabbing his ass and shoving him towards the bed, his fingers already going to Stiles’ belt buckle as he continued to kiss Stiles and Stiles stayed as still as possible, not moving, not fighting, allowing it to happen. 

“God, you feel so good, I want you, I want you so badly.” Henry muttered against Stiles’ lips as he pressed him in to the bed, kissing him roughly, hard enough to bruise, hard enough that Stiles winced as Henry bit and sucked at his skin, leaving marks where his fingers dug into Stiles’ hips as he pulled at his shirt, at his jeans, seeming to be in such a frenzy to rip Stiles’ clothes off that he couldn’t even seem to co-ordinate, his hands unable to keep up with what his brain wanted him to do, and the entire time Stiles lay there, his eyes squeezed shut, a grimace on his face, looking like he hated every second of what was happening and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Henry seemed completely oblivious to everything else other than Stiles, desperate to touch him, to kiss him, to fuck him. He didn’t even notice when Kate came behind him, so busy trying to rip Stiles’ jeans off that he was unaware of Kate extending her claws and trailing them along his skin, she smirked, looking at the camera, making sure that Matt zoomed in, before she dug them deep in to his throat and ripped sideways. 

Stiles felt the blood splash across his face and pressed his lips firmly together, scrunching his eyes shut to try and block it out as Henry’s body fell forwards, landing on top of Stiles and knocking all the air out of his lungs as Kate let out a giddy laugh and grinned at the camera. 

“You didn’t think I was going to let that filthy, pathetic piece of shit fuck him, did you? Not when we’ve got somebody here who’ll show him what a real fuck is, right Mike?” Kate taunted, pulling Henry’s body off Stiles and smirking at him, “Get up Stiles.” She said and Stiles grimaced, getting to his feet and swiping at the blood on his face before glaring at her. “Give me your wrist.” She said and Stiles gritted his teeth, grimacing as he held out his wrist for Kate to take. 

“You don’t need to give me his blood, I’ll fuck him either way.” Mike smirked and Kate smiled brightly. 

“Oh, but believe me, the experience is so much better with a little taste, I bet that woman you fucked, Henry’s girlfriend, I imagine you got off on that?” Kate smiled teasingly and Mike nodded as she trailed a claw along his chest, “I imagine you thought it was the best orgasm of your life, the feel of her underneath you, your claws digging into her flesh, her blood on your hands, her screaming as you fucked her?” Kate whispered seductively, rubbing a hand over his crotch as Mike groaned with pleasure, his eyes fluttering shut for the briefest second, “Well, imagine that with him, imagine him pinned beneath you, your claws digging into his hips as you fuck him, he won’t even fight back, he’ll scream in pain, he’ll beg you not to, or beg you to carry on, I’ll get him to say whatever you want him to, he won’t fight you, he’ll do whatever you want, whatever I tell him to. Would you like that?” Kate teased, still stroking her hand over Mike’s crotch. 

“God, yes, yes, let me fuck him.” Mike replied and Kate grinned. 

“Well imagine all of that, but a thousand times better, imagine the best orgasm of your life and then multiply it by a hundred, I guarantee, you take a taste of his blood and you’ll have the most incredible orgasm, your wolf will be closer to the surface than ever before and yet you’ll still be in control, all it’ll take is one little drop.” She said, holding out Stiles’ wrist.

“You’ll make him tell me he wants it? That he wants me to fuck him?” Mike queried curiously. 

“Sure, Stiles, tell him how badly you want him to fuck you, how badly you want him to fuck you raw, fuck you until you bleed and scream.” She said and Stiles glared at her, his jaw tensing as he fumed silently before he finally ground the words out. 

“I want you to fuck me.” He practically spat in hatred.

“And…?” Kate smiled while Mike looked so excited it made Derek want to puke. 

“I want you to fuck me until I scream, until I bleed, I want you to fuck me raw.” Stiles snarled. 

“Say please.” Mike smirked. 

“Fuck you.” Stiles growled. 

“Stiles. Say please. Beg him to fuck you.” Kate ordered and Stiles gritted his teeth, silently fuming until he caved under the order. 

“Please, I want you to fuck me, please.” He said, Kate smiled and Mike grinned wickedly.

“So?” Kate asked, holding up Stiles’ wrist and Mike looked at it before leaning forwards and sucking on the wound there. 

Mike’s eyes shifted to the gold of his wolf instantly, his claws extending and his teeth elongating, he looked feral, deranged, ready to rip and tear his way through anything to get to Stiles, Kate was only laughing brightly as Stiles pulled his wrist away, clutching it tightly to his chest and looking at Kate with disgust. 

“Same rules Stiles,” She smirked at the camera, “You’re going to release your hold on him and you’re not going to fight him, you’re not going to hurt him.” 

“He’s a monster, he touches me, he gets hurt.” Stiles said angrily. 

“Just this once, you’re going to ignore that order, you’re not going to hurt him when he touches you, but he’s going to hurt you, a lot, and you’re not going to stop him. Do you understand?” Kate said and Stiles gritted his teeth. 

“God, let me fuck him, I need to fuck him, I need him.” Mike snarled, it was obvious that Kate had been lying when she said Mike would have control over his wolf, he was feral, beyond any kind of reasoning, grunting as he strained against Stiles’ magic, desperate to get to him. 

“Ready?” Kate smiled. 

“Please.” Stiles whispered, “Please don’t do this.” He asked and Kate grinned, gripping his jaw with her claws. 

“I do love when you beg me.” Kate smiled, grabbing his wrist and sucking hard on it, smirking as she moved forwards, pulling him in to a brutal kiss, that she broke a moment later when Stiles managed to pull away from her. “But you know what, I just,” She turned towards the camera, “I can’t help but think it’s going to sound a hell of a lot better when you beg him instead. Derek, don’t forget, what happens next, it’s your fault, you should have never come after us, you should have never tried to rescue him, this, it’s on you.” She paused, smirking at Stiles, “Stiles, do as I order. Release him and don’t fight him.” She said and Stiles grimaced, gritting his teeth, clenching his hands into fists as he tried his hardest to fight the order. 

Stiles managed to hold out only a matter of seconds before Kate slapped him across the face and his concentration was broken, Mike surged forwards, his claws digging into the skin of Stiles’ neck as he gripped him tight, pulling him into a kiss and shoving him towards the blood splattered bed, Stiles practically tripping over Henry’s body as Mike ripped through Stiles’ jeans, shredding them instantly, not caring when his claws tore into Stiles’ bare skin and he cried out in pain, blood running across his legs. 

“Don’t, please, don’t.” Stiles begged but it was useless, he couldn’t fight, he couldn’t attempt to push him off, he wasn’t allowed, he could feel tears forming in his eyes, his chest getting tight as he tried to suck in a breath that just wouldn’t come, “Please.” He whispered as Mike’s claws tore into his hips, as Stiles cried out in pain.

Stiles was feeling more and more panicked by the second, he couldn’t breathe, he was going to be raped on camera, Derek and probably his dad and the rest of the pack, they were all going to see it, witness it, witness as he lay there and did nothing about it, they were going to see how pathetic he was, how stupid, how useless, there was nothing he could do. He scrunched up his fists, he was not just going to lie here and let this happen, he was going to fight, he was going to do something, he had to. He screwed up his eyes, gathering all his determination, he had to fight her command, he had to stop Mike from doing this, but, he was so tired, he was hungry and exhausted and in pain and he couldn’t concentrate, he couldn’t fight him, he gritted his teeth, he was not going to give up, he was going to fight with everything he had.

“Argh!” He screamed in pain, losing his concentration and any attempt at fighting the orders he was under, as Mike flipped him over so he was face down on the bed and then Stiles felt his teeth dig into his shoulder, Stiles tensed in pain as Mike continued his assault, shoving Stiles further onto the bed and climbing in between his legs, struggling to undo his own trousers in his haste to rape Stiles. Even as Stiles tried once again to concentrate on fighting Kate’s order, he knew it was no use, he knew it was too late, he couldn’t concentrate, he couldn’t breathe, all he could feel was overwhelming terror. 

“Do you want me to stop him Stiles?” Kate asked, crouching down next to the bed and Stiles opened his eyes to look at her in surprise. “If you want, I’ll kill him for you?” Stiles couldn’t believe she was offering to do this, he grimaced as he felt Mike’s claws dig in to his hips, “Time’s running out Stiles, make a choice, let him fuck you or ask me to kill him.” 

“You don’t have to kill him, just let me stop him, please.” Stiles whispered and Kate laughed. 

“Oh no, where would be the fun in that?” She smirked, “The choice, Stiles, is yours. You have to choose which matters more to you. His life or what remains of your innocence. After all, he probably won’t kill you, it’ll just hurt like hell, but, if I kill him for you, there’s no coming back from that, you’ll be responsible for his death. So, what do you want to do?” 

Stiles was terrified, he didn’t want Kate to kill Mike, but, he really didn’t want the man to rape him, not when she was giving him an out, but, if she killed him, it would be because Stiles told her to, his death would be his fault, he didn’t know what to do, he was scared, he just, he wanted his dad, he wanted to hug his dad, he wanted his dad to tell him it was all going to be okay. He felt Mike’s hard cock press against his bare ass, indicating that the wolf had finally coordinated enough to get his trousers undone and Stiles flinched, hating himself even as the words spilled from his lips. 

“Stop him, please stop him.” Stiles begged and Kate smirked, standing up and ripping Mike’s throat out with ease, the wolf hadn’t even tried to stop her, too intent on trying to fuck Stiles, Stiles felt the splatter of blood soak through his t-shirt a second before Mike’s dead weight fell on to him and he let out a sob of fear, of relief, of guilt. He wasn’t sure what he felt, he didn’t know how to feel, all he knew was that Mike was dead and it was his fault. He felt as Mike’s weight was pulled off him as Kate crouched down next to the bed again and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling slightly so that Stiles was forced to look at her. 

“You might as well have ripped his throat out yourself.” She said and Stiles bit his bottom lip, doing his best to fight the tears forming in his eyes, “You think Derek will take you back? You think your dad will be able to look you in the eyes? That any of them will? Knowing that you chose to save yourself? You’re pathetic Stiles, you’re weak, everyone who has ever loved you was wrong to, you’re unlovable, you’re selfish, you’re stupid, you’re nothing. And you know what? They all know they were wrong to ever love you. Your mother wanted you dead because she saw you for what you are, cowardly, pathetic, sick and broken. She would have killed you. She wanted you to die. Your own mother. And your father, don’t even get me started on him. He abandoned you, you needed him and he buried himself in work, in drink, because it was better to be passed out drunk on the sofa than have to deal with the hyperactive little bastard who was ruining his life, who killed his own mother, who was going to be responsible for his death too. And Scott? He didn’t even bother to call you. Not once. Your father was shot, you were missing, and he didn’t even think to call you. He wanted you gone. They all did. Because they know what you are Stiles. You’re a disease. You’re alone. You’re nothing. You get that? You are nothing Stiles. Say it.” Kate demanded and Stiles stared at her, it felt like something had broken inside him, a great big black hole in his chest, sucking out everything, Kate was right, she was right, she was always right. 

“I’m a disease. I’m alone. I’m nothing.” Stiles repeated quietly, feeling the truthfulness of his words sink in, he was alone, nobody was coming for him, why would they? They’d seen what a coward he was, it was there for them to see, he had killed Mike, to protect himself, he was sick, selfish, pathetic, weak. It was all his fault. Why would his dad want him back? Why would any of them? Stiles wished it could just be over, that he could just close his eyes, go to sleep and never wake up. He was exhausted, he was starving, his eyes were constantly trying to close but whenever he got anywhere near sleep, his magic would kick in and he’d start to scream in pain at the attempt to disobey Kate’s order. 

Derek watched the video with horror, all of them had been practically screaming at Stiles to tell Kate to kill Mike, they couldn’t believe that he had hesitated for as long as he did, he should have taken Kate up on it the moment she made the offer. Derek was enraged, his wolf howling angrily, they were going to kill Kate, they were going to rip her apart piece by piece and watch the light fade from her eyes and smile as she died. He didn’t care what Stiles’ blood did, all he cared about was seeing that fear in Stiles’ eyes, that helplessness, the knowledge that he was going to be raped and there was nothing he could do about it, Derek wanted to go to him, hold him, protect him from everyone and everything, instead, he’d had to watch, had to witness as Stiles was nearly raped by Henry and then Mike. 

He thought the worst was over, once Mike was dead he’d let out a sigh of relief, thinking that Stiles was safe, except, hearing Kate say those things to him, seeing Stiles take each and every single word to heart, it was obvious he believed them, he believed he was responsible for Mike’s death, believed he was weak and pathetic and nothing and alone. No. Derek couldn’t stand for this. He couldn’t. He was not going to allow Stiles to think that, Stiles was the most amazing, clever, sarcastic, optimistic, energy filled, gorgeous, cunning, determined and stubborn person that Derek knew and he was not going to let Stiles believe, for even a single second, that he was anything less than perfect, not if Derek had anything to do with it. 

“Say it again for me sweetie.” Kate said, cupping Stiles’ cheek in her hand, running her fingertips through the blood that coated his skin, and Stiles looked at her with such defeat that it made Derek’s heart break, “Say it again and I’ll let you sleep, I’ll even let you eat, just, look at the camera, make sure they can see you, and say it again, tell them what you are.” Kate said quietly, almost, lovingly, and Derek wanted to be sick, she was taking advantage of Stiles’ exhaustion, he was in shock and he must have been severely sleep deprived, she was using it to her advantage. “It’s okay baby, I know it must hurt to know that they never loved you, they never cared about you, you never mattered to them, but you have me now. I’ll look after you Stiles. You’ll never be alone again. I will always be with you.” 

“I…” Stiles tried to speak, his voice cracking as he bit at his bottom lip and stared instead at the blood staining his hands, his blood, Mike’s blood, Henry’s blood, he didn’t know who it belonged to, all he knew was that they were both dead and he was still alive and he was a monster. 

“Maybe we should have let him rape him, then we could have had some fun with him once they were done.” Daniel commented from the corner of the room and Stiles’ head shot up, looking at him with wide eyes. 

“Fuck you.” He snarled, seeming to snap out of whatever state of shock he had been in, “I didn’t kill him, you did! You killed them both! It wasn’t my fault!” 

“Really?” Kate smirked, “It was your blood though, wasn’t it? Your blood that drove them to do that in the first place. It’s all your fault Stiles.” 

“No. No it’s not. You made them taste it! You made me bleed!” Stiles argued, “You made me bring them here, you made me tell you where the nearest werewolf was in the first place, you’re the one to blame! I hate you!” 

“I’m the one to blame?” Kate laughed, “Stiles, let me tell you something very important, the only person to blame for them dying is you, and let me tell you why.” She paused dramatically as Stiles stared at her, “You started all of this, that night, the night my daddy shot you.” She poked him in the chest and Stiles flinched, “All you had to do was let your dad die. If you’d let him die, you never would have shown your magic, Gerard would have never brought you to me, I would have never been able to bind you to me and we wouldn’t be here right now. We can go around and around in circles about how I force you to do whatever I want, but the fact of the matter is, you were the one who just HAD to save your dad. God knows why. He doesn’t care about you. He’s probably glad he doesn’t have to see you, doesn’t have to look at the face of the child who murdered his wife. In fact, I’m willing to bet, they’re not even watching this video, they were probably so disgusted by you, by the fact that you didn’t even try to fight either of them off, by the fact that you would rather I killed Mike than let him fuck you, so disgusted by the monster that you are, they probably stopped watching. Because they don’t give a shit about you Stiles. You heard what Scott said, he wants me to hurt you, he wishes you had died instead of your mom, and that’s coming from the person who is supposed to be your best friend in all the world. Why would any of the others think differently? You are the monster Stiles. And to them? You’re nothing Stiles. Nothing.” 

Stiles stared at her in silence, not sure how he could reply to that, she was right, he was a monster, he didn’t deserve love, nobody loved him, he was alone. 

“So, here’s how it’s going to go, I’m going to be nice to you right now. You’re allowed to go to sleep.” She began and Stiles’ eyes fluttered close in exhaustion, she grabbed his hair and yanked him upright, “But first, I want you to repeat something for me, I want you to say it until you believe it, until your heart beat stays steady because you know it’s the truth.” Stiles looked at her with unveiled hatred in his eyes before gritting his teeth and nodding. “Good boy, so, you can go to sleep, as soon as you repeat these words, ‘I’m a monster, I’m a disease, I’m unlovable, I’m weak, I’m pathetic, I don’t deserve to live.’” Kate grinned blindingly, “Say it until you believe it and then you can sleep.” 

“I’m a monster,” Stiles whispered, “I’m a disease, I’m unlovable, I’m weak, I’m pathetic, I don’t deserve to live.” He said and Kate smirked. 

“I don’t quite believe you, say it again.” She smiled. 

“I’m a monster, I’m a disease, I’m unlovable, I’m weak, I’m pathetic, I don’t deserve to live. I’m a monster, I’m a disease, I’m unlovable, I’m weak, I’m pathetic, I don’t deserve to live.” Stiles muttered. 

“Once more for good luck.” She said. 

“I’m a monster, I’m a disease, I’m unlovable, I’m weak, I’m pathetic, I don’t deserve to live.” Stiles whispered wearily, Kate beamed, reaching forward to stroke his cheek in something akin to affection. 

“Wow, you truly are pathetic. I thought it would take much longer than that to convince you, but, no, four times, that’s all it took Stiles, four times before you truly believe that you are worthless, that you are nothing, that the world would be better if you were dead.” Kate smirked, her gaze on the camera, although Stiles was too busy staring at the ground to notice. 

“Can I sleep now?” He whispered in defeat and Kate smirked, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look up at her. 

“Tell me you’re worthless, tell me you’re nothing.” She smiled and Stiles sighed heavily. 

“I’m worthless. I’m nothing. The world would be a better place if I was dead.” He said and Kate chuckled letting go of his chin and Stiles collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, his shredded jeans still covered in blood from the claws marks across his legs, his shirt stained by blood, he didn’t even attempt to heal himself, he was too exhausted to do that, to do anything, other than fall asleep.

“You can sleep now.” She said dismissively, moving towards the camera, Derek was almost certain that Stiles was already asleep. “You see how easy it is to hurt him Derek? How easily he accepts his place in this world. He believes that he is a monster, that he is a disease. He believes that, and that’s YOUR fault, if you had just accepted your fate and died at my hands, I wouldn’t have to hurt him, but, you keep breathing, so, from now, until you hand yourself over, I’m going to make Stiles repeat things like that, time after time, until he truly believes that he is nothing, hey, maybe I’ll throw some other punishment in too, get him to repeat it over and over while I run my knife over his skin, in fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m so close to breaking his defiance, it’s so much easier when he's sleep deprived, I’m going to break him completely, I’m going to torture him until he stops fighting me, until he does whatever I want him to without me even having to order him to, he’s mine and the next time you see him, the boy you knew is going to be long gone. Sweet dreams Der-bear.” She taunted before the video ended.

Derek had never felt rage like this before, wasn’t it bad enough that she was abusing Stiles? That she was raping him, beating him, torturing him? No. Now she was resorting to messing with his head, mentally abusing him on top of everything else and Derek wasn’t going to stand for it, he knew the others were feeling just as enraged, they were all desperate to get to Stiles, to get him home and, Derek had decided, it was time to get him back. 

He moved to the laptop, opening up the account on Stiles’ tracker and finding where he was, he was in a motel about twelve hours drive away, it wasn’t specific enough for a room number, but, Derek knew he’d be able to see the winnebago so he wasn’t worried, he was going to end this, by tomorrow either Kate was going to be dead, or Stiles would be. He’d been selfish, he’d been so desperate to save Stiles, so desperate to keep him alive, to not give up on him, to bring him home, that he’d not thought about how badly Stiles was suffering, he’d refused to think about it because he knew that Stiles was going through hell, that Kate would be putting him through hell, and Derek had ignored it, thinking they’d be able to fix it when they got Stiles home, he’d been selfish, well, no more, Stiles had asked them to end it and Derek was going to, one way or the other. 

“What are you doing?” Chris asked as Derek grabbed his jacket. 

“You heard her, she’s going to keep hurting him until I hand myself over. It’s time to end this. We’ve wasted the last few days, we’ve been trying to make sure Noah was okay, trying to clean our home of their scents, trying to think up some new way to outsmart her, but all that matters is that Stiles needs us. I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep watching it. It’s time to end this.” Derek snarled angrily. 

“Handing yourself in isn’t going to save him, it’s just going to get yourself killed.” Chris argued. 

“I don’t care!” Derek shouted, “I’m fed up of playing this safe! We played it safe and look what happened! Noah got shot and she still took Stiles! No! Enough is enough. I’m going to track them and then I’m going to save Stiles, one way or the other.” Noah stared at him horror-struck.

“You can’t be serious!? We’ve found a way to save him from Kate. We can’t kill him now. Not when we’re so close!” He shouted, his eyes flashing blue in anger.

“I don’t want to! God, you have no idea how badly I don’t want to do that, but enough is enough, if I can’t free him from Kate, then, I have to do what he wants, he can’t keep suffering like this, he just can’t.” Derek replied sounding angrier than any of them had ever heard him before. “I love him, Noah, I am in love with him. I won’t deny it. I think Stiles is the most perfect person I’ve ever met and I’m in awe of him every single second, but I’ve been selfish. Look at what she’s doing. She’s destroying him. He believes he’s nothing. He believes he’s weak and pathetic and unlovable. I want him to know otherwise, and, if the only way I can prove to him how much I love him, is to do as he asks and end this, then, that is what I’m going to do. It’s the last fucking thing I want to do. The absolute last. And doing it, it’s going to destroy me. But I can’t keep telling myself it’s okay that she’s hurting him because we’re going to get him back and we’re going to make it right. I can’t! Because Stiles is hurting, he’s falling apart a piece at a time, she’s destroying him and he can’t do anything about it. I have to be able to do something about it. So, I either save him and kill her, or I end this how he wants me to.” 

There was silence as everyone processed what Derek said before Noah moved to the kitchen, opening the door and looking at Melissa solemnly. 

“Can you look after Sam for a little while? We’re going after Kate.” Noah said seriously and Melissa looked torn, like she wanted with everything she had to be there with them, but Sam shouldn’t be there. 

“I’m coming with you.” Sam said in determination, glaring at Noah. 

“You need to stay here. It’s dangerous.” Noah replied dismissively. 

“No. I don’t want to. She murdered my parents. She bit me. She hurt me. She turned me into a werewolf and when I’m a teenager, I’m going to go through the change which Peter told me really hurts! But. I’m not dead. I’m not trapped with her. That’s because of Stiles. He saved me. It’s time I saved him.” Sam snapped and Noah winced. 

“There’s no guarantee we can save Stiles. There’s no guarantee we can save ourselves. I’m not taking you. You could be killed.” Derek replied. 

“I don’t care. I’m coming with you.” 

“I’m your Alpha and I said no.” Derek argued. 

“Actually, Kate bit me and Stiles saved me. All you did was find me in the river and bring me here. Stiles saved my life. He said to find you. He told me how to escape from her. He made sure I stayed alive. He’s my Alpha.” Sam shouted and there was silence in the room. 

“Sam, you don’t understand what that means yet.” Derek said quietly, sounding so sad that Sam felt guilt flood through him but he refused to back down. 

“I know it means I’d trust any order he gave me. If he said to do something, I’d do it, because he is going to keep me alive.” Sam paused, “That doesn’t mean that I don’t know that you are looking out for me too,” He relented, “but, I’m alive because of Stiles, I know you’re trying to keep me safe, but, I’m not going to stay here and be safe when Stiles needs our help.” 

“Derek…” Peter whined, “Sam’s right, Stiles needs all the help we can give, if there’s any chance of saving him, we have to try, all of us.” 

“I’m not leading my pack into a slaughter.” Derek shook his head in denial and Lydia pursed her lips. 

“This isn’t a suicide mission. No matter what you’re thinking. I can see it in your eyes. If you have to kill Stiles, you don’t plan on surviving either.” She said and Derek refused to look at her.

“There’s a good chance of dying. Of Kate killing me before I can even attempt to save him.” Derek admitted. 

“Then we increase those chances.” Noah said fiercely, “We all go. We all say the words to challenge her. She would have to kill us all before the challenge is over, maybe it’ll give us enough time to kill her first.” 

“Are you really willing to die for Stiles? Because that’s what this is. There’s a high chance some of us won’t come out of this alive. That we’ll die trying to save him. I want to know you’re all okay with that?” Derek said, looking at Jackson specifically who rolled his eyes. 

“Stilinski might not be my favourite person, but, yeah, I’m willing to die if it means he’s free. Nobody should have to suffer through that. I mean, obviously, I’d prefer not to die, but, if it comes to it, then, yeah, I’d die to save him.” Jackson nodded and Derek couldn’t help but look at him tearfully, the fact that Jackson would be willing to risk his life to save Stiles, that all of them would, it made Derek feel such love towards his pack, he wanted to hug them all tightly and tell them it was all going to be okay, but, he couldn’t, not until this was over. 

Stiles blinked open his eyes, unable to believe how much better he felt just for having slept, his stomach was still rumbling hungrily, but at least the pounding in his head had lessened slightly. He looked around, he was still lying on the floor of the motel room, Mike and Henry’s bodies were piled in the corner and, as he sat upright, he saw Kate, Matt, James and Daniel crammed in to one of the beds. They were sleeping which he was grateful for, much better that way than forced to participate when they were awake, he looked away quickly, trying to forget the sight of their bare limbs all tangled together, the sheets doing nothing to protect their modesty. 

He got to his feet unsteadily, wincing as his entire body throbbed, the claw marks on his legs started to bleed sluggishly and Stiles grimaced as he managed to hobble into the bathroom, pulling off what remained of his jeans and biting his bottom lip to stop himself from screaming as the water from the shower ran over his injuries and turned red before it swirled down the drain. 

He wished he could heal himself, knowing he could do it any point providing he didn’t have instructions to not heal, which, unfortunately, he was currently under. He did his best to clean the injuries and then headed back into the room, glad to see they were still asleep before he rummaged through the bags and found a small first aid kit, bandaging up his wounds to attempt to keep pressure on and stop the bleeding before grabbing a pair of old jeans and pulling them up his legs, ignoring the way they caught on his legs, they were harder to take off than joggers and he would suffer through however much it hurt in order to make it more difficult for Kate to get him in his boxers. 

He headed to the fridge, Kate had said she’d let him sleep, she’d even let him eat if he did as she said, he’d done what she ordered which meant he got to eat now. He didn’t take much, he didn’t want to over face himself and then be sick, he knew Kate would stop him from eating again if he did that. He made himself a small sandwich that would hopefully be enough to take the edge off without leaving him wanting to be sick, he ate it silently, terrified of them waking up and seeing him eating, knowing that it would only result in some kind of argument, some kind of pain for him. He had long since become too used to staying quiet, not drawing attention to himself unnecessarily. He still made sure he had her attention sometimes, when he decided it was more important to piss Kate off than protect himself, when he had to prove he wasn’t ready to quit yet, that he still had some fight left in him. 

Kate finally stirred several hours later, she smirked when she saw Stiles sitting on the floor on the far side of the room, obviously trying to stay as far away from them as possible, his gaze still on Mike and Henry’s bodies that were close by. 

“Go fetch us some coffees.” She said and Stiles climbed to his feet, wincing slightly and Kate smiled, he was in pain, good, he was going to stay that way, she kicked Matt awake and indicated that he was going to go with Stiles to stop him doing anything stupid. “Matt’s coming with you. Until you return to this room, you do as he says. A shop in this town. Straight there. Straight back. No sitting there for hours. No making me wait. Got it?” 

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded, already shuffling towards the door as Matt grinned, throwing on clothes and following after Stiles. 

“Stiles, get yourself something too, you’re going to need the energy later.” She smirked as Stiles looked at her with revulsion. 

“Okay.” He replied quietly, not looking up from the floor as he walked out of the room and headed to whichever coffee shop Matt wanted, grimacing when Matt slung an arm around his shoulder and grinned. 

“Smile sweetheart, look happy.” Matt taunted and Stiles glared at him for a few moments before he felt his lips stretch in to some resemblance of a smile, it felt so foreign on his features that he wasn’t even sure anybody would be able to recognise it as a smile, “Good boy, behave yourself and I won’t have to punish you, hell, we can even have some fun.” Matt remarked and Stiles fought back a shudder.

When Stiles’ tracker started moving Derek felt his heart plummet, on the drive across they’d formed some kind of plan, basically that Chris, Peter, Melissa and Sam would hang back, if things went wrong, if Kate killed them, or if they failed to kill Stiles, then Chris would take the shot, as Stiles had requested previously. None of them liked it, but, what choice did they have? They’d all agreed, Derek was right, it was time to bring an end to this. 

“He’s not moving fast if he’s in a vehicle.” Isaac muttered as the dot that represented Stiles moved along the roads slowly, they were only ten minutes away, Chris had brought up satellite images and they’d picked out the best location, where he’d be able to wait, where he’d be out of sight until he had to take the shot if it was necessary. 

“I think he’s walking.” Lydia said, “We could do a drive past?”

“If Kate sees us, we’re dead.” Cora muttered. 

“What if…” Allison said, looking suddenly excited, “What if she isn’t with him? If he’s alone? We could take him, take the tracker out, she’d never be able to find him!” They all sat in silence, thinking it over. 

“We’d spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, waiting for her to appear, to take control of him again.” Noah said, “We need to end this today.” 

“Better idea.” Erica said, grinning ferally, victoriously, “If Kate isn’t with Stiles, yeah, he’s alone, but, also, she hasn’t got him to protect her. We issue the challenge without him there, he can’t freeze us, can’t hold us still, can’t stop us from speaking, and she can’t use him. She’s alone and without his protection, this is our best shot.” They all looked at her with wide eyes, they’d been so focused on the thought that Stiles could be alone, that they could grab him without Kate around, that none of them had really thought about the fact it meant Kate was alone, unprotected. 

“Okay.” Derek said decisively, “Firstly we need to see if Stiles is alone, if he is, then we head to the motel and confront Kate. If he’s not, well, hopefully we can find a way to get him away from Kate, lure them out of their room or something, then we can issue the challenge before Stiles has the chance to freeze us as Kate ordered.” 

Everybody agreed, it was the best plan they had, even if it seemed like a shitty plan, but they’d all agreed, they were bringing an end to this, one way or another, it was going to end today. Derek insisted that it would be too obvious if all their cars drove past, instead, he was going to take Noah, Scott and Lydia, they’d scout it out, see what was happening and then return to the car park where the rest of them were waiting. There were a few arguments but eventually everybody agreed, on the condition that Derek called them and kept them on speaker, at least that way they could, at the bare minimum, hear what was happening, he called Peter before they’d even left the car park and then sat his phone on the dashboard, allowing everybody else to listen in to what was happening while they waited a safe distance away. 

“Alright, his tracker is moving again, he should be about a hundred yards ahead of you.” Allison said over the phone and Derek nodded, his eyes already scanning the shop fronts ahead of them. 

Matt started making demands as soon as they were out of sight of the motel, of the three of them, Stiles hated Matt the most. Daniel and James were horrible, there was no denying that, they took amusement in Stiles’ pain, they laughed whenever Kate hurt him and they were more than happy to hurt him themselves. Stiles didn’t think either of them actually found him attractive, they only kissed him because they knew how much Stiles hated it, plus, Kate wanted them to and they were happy to do anything Kate wanted if it meant they got to be with her, they were both infatuated with her, they loved the atmosphere around her, the violence, the cruelty, the blood. Stiles thought they were both fucked in the head, but who was he to judge? 

Matt was different. He was broader and taller than both of them, although they were both still tall and broad, Matt was even more so, he towered over Stiles, he had to be at least six and a half foot tall, he was fair with light blue eyes that seemed to reflect no humanity, no soul, while the other two were dark haired and dark eyed, their eyes murky and dull as if there was no light left in them, Matt’s skin was constantly tanned and made Stiles’ own skin look especially pale when they were stood next to each other. 

But it was more than that, it wasn’t just his physical differences that made him different to James and Daniel, Matt didn’t hurt him because he thought it would please Kate, didn’t beat him because Kate told him to, no, Matt did it because he wanted to, because he enjoyed it, because he got amusement from it, because he got turned on by it, because he liked having the power over Stiles, because he could, and that was worse than anything the other two could do to him. 

The first thing Matt ordered was that Stiles change his clothes, he wanted them to look like they were together as a couple, and there was no way anybody would believe Matt would look at someone like Stiles dressed as he currently was. Stiles used his magic to change his clothes, into a pair of jeans that felt too tight on his ass but that Matt insisted on, a pair of heavy tan lace-up boots, a long sleeve white t-shirt that was tight across his shoulders and chest, Matt wanted a short sleeve one but once he saw the scars on Stiles’ arms he agreed long sleeves would raise fewer questions, a beat up tan leather jacket that looked fashionably worn, a pair of sunglasses that hid his eyes and a baseball cap that he wore low on his head, keeping his eyes downcast as they walked towards the coffee shop, his fingers intertwined with Matt’s as he fought back the grimace on his features at the pain he felt from the still healing injuries.

After that Matt had insisted that Stiles heal himself, not completely, but just enough that he wasn’t wincing with every step he took, apparently Matt wanted Stiles to look like he was happy so he had to smile, Stiles glared at him for a solid minute before he managed to rearrange his features in to something resembling a smile. They’d ordered a coffee, a couple of sandwiches and a piece of cake and sat at a table in the shop which was in direct violation of Kate’s orders of straight there and back, but she’d also said to listen to Matt so when he told Stiles to sit because they needed to talk, Stiles had obeyed. 

“Do you remember what words your dad used to free you from Kate’s bindings?” Matt said as soon as he’d sat down next to Stiles, slinging an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close, grinning at the guy at the next table who had been looking at Stiles previously. Stiles had thought the guy looked kind of nice, he’d smiled at Stiles when he’d sat down, looking up from his book and staring at Stiles for a minute before Matt had sat down and stared at him until the guy blushed furiously and returned to reading his book. Whatever Stiles had been expecting Matt to say, it hadn’t been that. It caught Stiles completely off guard. 

“What?” He spluttered in shock, nearly dropping his coffee in surprise. The guy at the table next to them looked across at Stiles and Matt glared at him until, moments later, the guy jumped up from the table, grabbed his coffee and book and hurried out of the shop. 

“I said, do you remember? Tell me the truth.” Matt muttered quietly and Stiles grimaced before nodding, “Tell me, tell me what he said.”

“I don’t know what it means….”

“I don’t care what it means, tell me what the words are.”

“Why do you want to know?” Stiles asked and Matt rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t pretend you’re an idiot Stiles, we both know you aren’t. Now, tell me what the words are.” He ordered and Stiles bit his bottom lip for a moment before the order forced him to comply. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” He said and Matt stared at him. 

“Say it again. Slower.” Matt instructed and Stiles kept repeating it until Matt could pronounce it perfectly. “Good. Stiles, you are not to mention this to Kate or anybody else, this stays between the two of us, understood?” 

“Yes.” Stiles said through gritted teeth. 

“Good boy, now, give me a kiss.” Matt smirked and Stiles glared at him before leaning in and giving him a peck on the cheek, “Stiles. A real kiss.” He growled warningly. 

“I will fight your order with everything I have, you don’t want to cause a scene, do you?” Stiles asked when Matt grabbed his arm and squeezed too tightly, hard enough that there would be bruises later. 

“When I’m your master I’m going to keep you tied to the bed and I’m going to fuck you whenever I like, no more of this stupid game Kate plays with you, I’ll fuck you properly, like I’ve wanted to do for so long.” Matt snarled and Stiles glared at him before Matt grabbed his wrist and pulled him from the booth, grabbing Kate’s coffee order before leaving the shop. 

Derek slowed the car to a stop when he saw Stiles and Matt step out of the coffee shop ahead of them. It took Derek a second to recognize Stiles, he was wearing different clothes than he was used to seeing him in, jeans that clung tight to his ass and a tight t-shirt that showed off his broad shoulders and narrow hips, he looked amazing, even if the sunglasses hid his eyes slightly, they were carrying several cups of coffee and Matt was gripping tightly to Stiles’ arm, muttering something too quietly for Derek to hear him, they were starting to walk in the opposite direction, no doubt to return to the motel. Matt said something else and Stiles pulled off his sunglasses and turned to snap a reply when his gaze slid to Derek’s car and he froze, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

Derek registered the second that Stiles’ gaze locked with his, he looked terrified, Derek could hear his heart already beginning to race from here, he didn’t know what to do, Stiles was right in front of him and there was nothing he could do, he had to get to Kate, but, if Matt saw them then Kate would know they were coming, she would be expecting them. Matt was already turning towards them, no doubt to see what Stiles was staring at, and Derek realised it was too late, they were about to be spotted and there was no way to avoid it. 

Stiles wrapped a hand around the back of Matt’s neck and surged forwards, pulling him into a kiss, effectively distracting Matt for at least a few moments. 

Derek stared in shock until Lydia hit him in the arm and told him to drive, pulling away from the curb and driving along the street, past Matt and Stiles, who was too busy staring at them to realise that Matt was breaking the kiss and turning to look at them, his features turning from a triumphant surprise to indignant fury as he spotted the car already pulling away from them, knowing it was Derek’s car even if he couldn’t see the inhabitants. He grabbed Stiles by the arm and dragged him down an alleyway and out of their line of sight, Derek grimaced, so much for the element of surprise.

“So, wild guess, Kate’s going to know we’re coming any minute if she doesn’t already. Meet us at the motel, we’re doing this now.” Derek instructed, heading in the direction of the motel and praying they got there before Stiles and Matt did. 

They wasted several precious minutes trying to find the right room, Derek had expected the winnebago to be outside one of the rooms, but it was parked around the back and not outside any specific room making it harder to locate the room Kate was staying in. In fact, it was only when Derek saw Matt and Stiles hurrying towards the middle of three rooms that he raced forwards, not having a clue what his plan was going to be, just knowing that he had to end this, somehow, he had to free Stiles from this hell, he had to stop Matt from warning Kate, if he got to them before Kate knew they were there, then there was still a chance.

Derek was aware of the rest of the pack racing after him, he saw Stiles look up first, register their presence, looking terrified as Matt’s gaze shot to them and he smirked widely, already muttering to Stiles. 

“Freeze them, make sure they can’t speak or move.” Matt ordered and Stiles grimaced before complying with the order, freezing the pack in place. Derek had forgotten how helpless this felt, he’d planned on ripping Matt’s throat out before Kate could get out here, he had no idea that Stiles would have to listen to Matt’s orders, he cursed internally, glancing at the rest of the pack who looked equally frozen in place. “Kate!” Matt called, smirking at Derek who was still a good ten feet away, “You should come out here, I’ve got a surprise for you.” 

The door opened a few moments later and Kate, Daniel and James all appeared in the doorway, the latter two looking like they’d only just gotten dressed, Kate took in the scene in front of her a wide smile forming on her lips as she realised the Hale pack were all in front of her, frozen and helpless and she hadn’t had to do anything. 

“Well, this was easy.” She grinned and Stiles practically snarled at her. 

“We should bring them inside; we don’t want to arouse suspicion.” Daniel muttered but Kate dismissed him. 

“Stiles, put a glamour on the car park, I don’t want anyone to see us.” Kate ordered without breaking eye contact with Derek and Stiles waved his hand, Derek could see a faint shimmering in the air and could smell the magic surrounding them, even in their dire situation, he couldn’t help but be drawn in by the scent of Stiles’ magic, it was intoxicating. 

“Σε προκαλώ…” Lydia began before Kate punched Stiles across the face, knocking his hat and sunglasses off with the force of it, Lydia fell silent again. 

“You’re under orders to keep them silent, so you keep them silent.” Kate snarled and Stiles glared at her in hatred, “You see, he wants to fight, but to fight he needs to concentrate, what better way to break that concentration than hurting him.” She grinned and Derek’s eyes flashed red in rage, Kate obviously noticed and she took a step towards Derek, an amused smile on her lips, “Ah, the mighty Derek Hale, Alpha of the Hale pack of Beacon Hills, once again helpless under my orders. You know, I really thought you were smarter than this, I guess I overestimated you.” She laughed, Derek opened his mouth, desperate to make some sound come out as he tried to challenge her, but nothing happened and Kate laughed brightly, “Now, what I need to decide is how to kill you, what would make you suffer the most?” She pursed her lips in thought and Derek looked to Stiles, pleading with him to fight the order long enough for them to challenge Kate, Stiles gritted his teeth but Derek had barely got more than the first syllable out before Kate stabbed a knife into Stiles’ thigh and he cried out in pain, clutching his thigh as he did his best to stay upright. “Keep trying and I’ll cause you so much pain that you won’t even be able to remember your name. Are we clear?” 

“Yes master.” Stiles muttered through gritted teeth. 

“Good boy. Heal yourself.” She taunted before turning back to Derek and the pack, taking in the rage, frustration and helplessness in their features, grinning brightly as she moved towards Derek, trailing a claw across his cheek and he continued to glare at her as she cut into the skin slightly. 

“Σε προ…” Melissa managed to mutter before Kate punched Stiles in the ribs and Derek heard them crack from where he was stood. 

“I said, if you keep trying, I will hurt you.” She snarled. 

“And that’s supposed to stop me from trying?” Stiles panted in pain and Kate punched him again. 

“Stop fighting my orders Stiles.” She commanded and he glared at her in hatred before finally nodding. “Good, now, heal yourself.” She ordered and Stiles winced as his ribs healed, “You know, Derek, I really, honest-to-god, thought you were smarter than this. Tell me, why did you come? When you know you can’t save him?” She laughed, smirking at the look on Derek’s face before looking back to Stiles, “Stiles, I want you to answer a question for me. And you’re going to tell the truth. The absolute truth. No lies. No avoidance. You are going to answer honestly and loud enough for everyone to hear. Understood?” 

“Yes master.” Stiles said, almost sagging in defeat. 

“Do you want to die? Honestly? Do you think they can save you? Or would you prefer if I just killed you here and now?” She grinned, Derek felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest it was beating that loudly, he could feel the terror emitting from the rest of the pack, all of them were horrified by the question, and more importantly, were dreading the answer Stiles might give. 

“Of course you want honesty, just your way of torturing them that little bit more before you kill them.” Stiles muttered darkly, sounding so hopeless that Derek felt his heart shattering. “You want honesty? Fine. Yeah. I want to die. I wish I was dead. I wish you’d just kill me already so this would be fucking over. I don’t want to live anymore. And do I think they can save me? No. No, I don’t. And even if they could, I’m not worth saving. But you? You’ll never kill me. I want you to. I want it to end. But you won’t. Because you are a psychopathic bitch who enjoys hurting everyone around her, and I’m under your control. I can’t fight back. I can’t leave. I can’t escape. I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you and you will never let it end. Happy now?” Stiles said, glaring at her in hatred. 

“Of course I’m happy Stiles. I’ve got you. And you’re broken. Not beaten. Not yet. But definitely broken. But there’s time to beat you, and once your pack are dead, for real this time, there’ll be no hope left for you. Not to mention,” She grinned, “You were right. It’s not about how it makes me feel, it’s about torturing them just a little more before they die. I mean, look at them, look at your dad, look at the failure in his eyes because he knows his son doesn’t believe that his dad can save him, look at the disappointment because you’d rather die right this second than have faith in them. I mean, of course, you’re right not to have faith in them. Derek literally walked them straight in here to die. But still, you’d rather die right now than hold out an extra minute or hour or day and trust in them to find a way to save you. How disappointed they must feel.” She taunted and Stiles glared at the ground angrily, there was nothing he could do, no way he could help them, they would die and it would be his fault. 

“Not to mention they probably hate the fact that you are too weak to save them.” Daniel commented and Kate laughed brightly. 

“Yeah! There’s that too.” She grinned, “The question is, what to do with you? How can I kill all of you that will cause you the most amount of pain?” She said, returning her attention to Derek and the pack. 

“Maybe you should give them his blood?” James suggested and Kate stilled, turning to look at the man. 

“And why should I do that?” Kate asked, ignoring the look of absolute terror on Stiles’ features. 

“Well, they obviously care about him in some way, probably guilt or pity or something, otherwise they wouldn’t have come after him, it would be fun to watch them lose their minds when they get a taste, they either rape him in which case they’ll never be able to forgive themselves and then we kill them while they are still reeling from the fact they raped him, that they are the monsters we’ve been saying they are, or, you give him the same option as you did with the other one, save himself and you’ll kill them for him. Either way, it’ll destroy all of them. He either saves himself and they die, or he doesn’t and they die knowing they raped somebody they obviously care about in some capacity, not to mention, if they rape him, no more happy memories, every time he thinks of them, the last memories he’ll have of all of them is them being forced in to fucking him, it’ll be the thing that finally breaks him, I’m sure of it.” James explained and Stiles and the pack all looked like they were about to be sick while Kate’s face was lit up with excitement. 

“You know, I knew there was a reason you are my favourite, other than Stiles of course.” She grinned and Derek felt panic flood through his system, this couldn’t happen, they couldn’t do this. 

“Please…” Stiles whispered looking just as terrified as Derek and the others felt. 

“Your choice Stiles.” Kate grinned, “Who shall we start with? Or shall we do them all at once?” 

“No, just, please, don’t.” Stiles practically begged but it only seemed to get Kate even more excited. 

“You know, I’ll think we’ll do it one at a time, otherwise they might kill each other before they fuck you, and that, well, it just wouldn’t be as exciting. Much better that I kill them once they are done with you, once they come back to their senses, once your blood wears off and they realise what they’ve done, hell, I bet they’ll beg for death.” She smirked, reaching forward to grab Stiles’ wrist and slicing it open with a claw. “So, who shall we start with?” She turned to look at the surrounding pack, her gaze lingering on each member for a few moments before moving to the next. “What do you think Stiles? Who do you want to rape you first?” 

“It won’t be rape for me.” Stiles muttered, looking at the ground instead of them, and Kate looked at him in surprise. 

“What?” She asked. 

“I said, it won’t be rape for me.” Stiles repeated louder, still staring at the floor, “If you are going to do this, if you are going to force them, then, they don’t want it, but I do, it might be rape for them, doing something they don’t want to, but, not for me. I want them to have sex with me. They won’t have anything to feel guilty about.” Stiles said fiercely, if Derek couldn’t hear the skip in Stiles’ heartbeat as he said he wanted it then he might have almost believed him, but, he could, and it just made him want to hold Stiles even more than he already did. That Stiles was willing to say that, just so that it would make them feel better about the whole thing, Derek felt such a huge rush of love towards him, he just wanted to tell him how amazing he was, how incredible, how special, how he was the absolute best of them. 

“Really? Well, let’s see how well that works out for you then.” She said, pulling Stiles forward and shoving his wrist against Derek’s lips. “Derek, open your mouth.” Kate snarled and Stiles winced as she tightened her grip on his wrist, Derek kept his lips pressed in a firm line and glared at Kate as she grabbed his chin and dug her claws in forcefully until his lips parted just a fraction and it was enough for Stiles’ blood to spill into his mouth. “I wonder if there will be anything left of you by the time your Alpha is done with you.” She laughed.

The change was instantaneous, part of him was shouting that they couldn’t do this, that they couldn’t hurt Stiles, that he couldn’t have sex with Stiles, not like this, but, there was a much larger, more dominant part, that screamed at him, they had to have him, they had to touch him, taste him, his wolf was snarling, howling, desperate to reach Stiles, and it was that part of him that was in control right now, no matter how hard he fought against it. 

“Derek, fight it.” Stiles said, hatred and anger filling his voice as he looked at Derek, but his eyes were filled with fear as Kate let go of his wrist and took a step backwards, observing the feral Alpha in front of her with amusement in her features. Derek understood that although Stiles sounded like he hated him, it wasn’t how he really felt, it was his orders, or, he hoped so, he wasn’t sure that Stiles wouldn’t actually hate him if he couldn’t fight the feeling Stiles’ blood was causing.

“Stiles, you are going to hold the rest of the pack still and you’re going to make sure none of them say a word. You’re going to let Derek move, you’re going to let him do whatever he wants to you, you’re not going to hurt him, or push him away, he’s a monster, but he’s allowed to touch you without suffering any consequences. You can stop it at any point, by telling me to kill him. Do you understand?” Kate smirked and Stiles stared at her in disgust before looking at the rest of the pack, all of them staring at Derek with complete terror, he looked unhinged, like there was no reasoning with him and Stiles tried to brace himself, there was no way he was getting Kate to kill Derek, not a chance, no matter what it meant for him. 

“Yes master.” Stiles snarled in reply and Kate grinned. 

“Good, get on with it then.” Kate said and Stiles clenched his jaw in frustration and took a step towards Derek. 

“I don’t know if you’re in there,” Stiles muttered, avoiding his gaze as much as possible to keep his voice neutral, feeling like he’d rather be hit by a bus than let this happen, “but, this isn’t your fault and I’m so sorry.” Derek was screaming internally, he didn’t want to do this, he didn’t want to hurt Stiles, but, god, he wanted him so badly, he was desperate to have him, he had to have him, no matter what. Stiles sighed heavily, gritting his teeth as his fingers twitched slightly, and suddenly Derek surged forwards, grabbing hold of Stiles’ hair and pulling him into a kiss, of all the times that Derek had fantasized about kissing Stiles it was never like this, never against Stiles’ will, against his. 

Stiles stumbled slightly as Derek grabbed hold of him, his claws digging into Stiles’ sides and hips as he pushed him to the ground, trying desperately to pull his trousers off, ripping the material. 

“Let him speak, I want to hear what he has to say.” Kate laughed from nearby and Stiles complied, trying not to let out a cry of pain when Derek’s claws tore into his thigh in his haste to pull Stiles’ trousers off. 

“Want you, need you, god…” Derek muttered under his breath as he pressed his lips against Stiles’ skin, nipping and sucking at his neck, desperate to go further, he needed Stiles, he needed him, Derek felt Stiles’ hands in his hair, pulling Derek’s face up towards his. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Stiles replied, pressing his lips against Derek’s, kissing him back, “It’s okay Derek, it’s alright.” Stiles muttered as Derek pulled at his jeans, Stiles winced but continued to reassure him, he would not let Derek feel guilty over this, he refused to, if he had to pretend like it was okay, that he wanted it, that it didn’t hurt, then that would be exactly what he did, “Fuck,” He cursed under his breath when Derek’s teeth broke the tender skin of his neck, “It’s alright, it’s okay.” Stiles whispered, pressing their lips together, kissing him, softly, sweetly, even as Derek’s claws dug into his hips, desperate to try and make this into something he would want when really all he could think about was how Derek was being forced into doing something he would never want to do normally. 

Derek felt Stiles’ fingers tangled in his hair, felt the gentle pull as Derek pressed against him too roughly and Stiles winced, but, he never pulled away, Stiles continued to kiss him, continued to try and make this into something sweeter than it was, Derek understood what Stiles was trying to do and it broke his heart, he loved him, god he loved him so much, because even in this moment, even when Derek was trying to rape him, Stiles was still doing his best to try and protect him. 

He hadn’t realised that his hands had stopped moving until Stiles stilled underneath him, breaking their kiss to look at Derek with wide eyes, Derek blinked a few times, surprised to find that the red was beginning to fade from his vision, he fought harder to regain his humanity, focusing on the rapid beating of Stiles’ heart underneath him, concentrating on just how much he loved Stiles, how he would never want to hurt him, until the red in his vision faded completely. 

“What the fuck did you do!?” Kate raged taking a step forward, no doubt to finish the job and kill Derek. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.”

Everyone stilled, Stiles looked away from Derek to turn towards the voice that had spoken, Derek had obviously managed to shake off the last vestiges of whatever Stiles’ blood had done to him, he was already lifting himself up slightly to take his weight off Stiles’ chest, looking around at his pack and then checking Stiles over, wincing when he saw the damage his claws had caused, Stiles’ blood that was staining his hands, his clothes, guilt flooded through him, god, he’d nearly raped Stiles, he’d hurt him. Kate snarled from above him and it brought Derek back to his senses, he was focusing on the wrong thing. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kate growled, glaring at Matt who was pointing a gun at her and smiling brightly, a look of triumph on his features, ignoring the guns that James and Daniel were both pointing in his direction, both of them looking at Kate to tell them what to do.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m claiming what’s rightfully mine.” Matt replied. 

“Yours!?” Kate spluttered, “He’s mine!” 

“You are wasting his potential! You have us living in a camper van, travelling the country and killing whoever you feel like killing that day! He can do so much more than that, when he’s mine I’ll get him to provide me with enough money to buy a mansion, then I’ll order him to bring me whoever I feel like killing, he’ll do whatever I want, robbing banks, kidnapping people, stealing, torture, whatever I feel like, all from the comfort of my own home. We could be living like kings! The entire world could bow at our feet! And instead, we’re living like we’re on the run. I don’t want to do that any longer, I want to be worshipped, the way I should have been all along, and don’t even get me started on what I’ll do to him.” Matt ranted, still pointing the gun at Kate, Derek shifted his weight slightly so that his crotch was no longer pressed into Stiles’ and Stiles glanced at him silently, looking panicked. Derek could smell the pain coming from him, could see the black lines beginning to appear on his skin, if Matt or Kate didn’t die soon, Stiles was going to be in immense pain and eventually it would kill him, his mind was racing, unsure what to do for the best. If he killed Matt then the challenge would be over, but Kate would still be Stiles’ master and they’d still be in the same mess as before, if he killed Kate then Stiles would be under Matt’s control and that could be even worse. 

“And what do you plan on doing to him?” Kate said, her voice deadly. 

“I won’t waste his talents, that’s what!” Matt shouted, “He’ll be mine, in every way I want, no more of this ridiculous game you play with him, I’ll just fuck him whenever I feel like it and he won’t be able to do anything to stop me, he’ll do whatever I tell him to, the way he was supposed to be! Your father told ME that he was bringing a caster for ME! YOU got in the way! YOU didn’t even want a caster until you saw who it was! You were constantly complaining that having a caster bound to you would be boring, it would take away the thrill of the hunt and then you saw him! Saw it was Stiles! And all of a sudden, he is all you want! Because you knew it would hurt this pack of pathetic mutts when they found out, but me!? I wanted him no matter what. He was supposed to be MINE and you stole him away by batting your eyes at your daddy and telling him you’d make Stiles’ life a thousand times worse than I ever could. NO. It’s not happening. Not anymore. He’s mine.”

“God.” Stiles groaned in pain, the burning in his chest was getting worse, the black lines under his skin were deepening, he was still bleeding from the injuries that Derek had inflicted and he could feel himself beginning to choke on the sludge forming in his throat. 

“I could run.” Kate smirked, “If I don’t fight, if I run, he’ll die and his magic will die with him.” She said and Matt glared at her. 

“I’ll shoot you long before you take a single step.” He replied. The pack were all hovering nearby, none of them really sure what to do, looking at Derek for an answer but Derek was too distracted watching the two of them, Stiles let out a groan of pain and bit his bottom lip to try and silence it, he failed miserably.

“You shoot me and they shoot you, or do you honestly think you could get Stiles to do your bidding that quickly? Do you remember when I first got control? You were there. Do you remember how he nearly got free from my control a hundred times? How many times he nearly escaped? Do you remember how he nearly died fighting against the bindings? Do you remember how many orders I had to put in place just to get him to behave? To get him to stop trying to kill me and actually protect me instead? You think you can do all of that within the second it’ll take for them to pull the trigger?” Kate taunted and Derek realised he had his answer. If it wasn’t an immediate change of master, if it would take Matt time to put the right orders in place, it meant he could kill Kate and then Noah could challenge Matt, they could kill Matt and Stiles would be Noah’s, at least until they figured out a way to free him. 

Stiles rolled out from under him, rolling to his side and throwing up the vile black sludge, his body shaking with pain, Derek could smell it from here, he needed to act and he needed to act quickly. He saw both Kate and Matt look towards Stiles and he used that second to his advantage, shoving upwards, on his feet in a second, and driving his hand into Kate’s throat, ripping it out in an instant and turning to look at Matt as her body fell to the floor, eyes still wide in disbelief. The ring on Kate’s finger let out a bright glow that faded a moment later and there was a shocked silence among them, James and Daniel pointing their guns at him instead as Stiles wiped a trembling hand across his mouth and managed to get to his feet, albeit unsteadily. The black lines were still showing on his skin but they seemed to have reduced slightly and Derek wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, at least Stiles wasn’t still throwing up so that was a plus, although he still looked awful, like he wasn’t far off throwing up again, or maybe passing out, he looked very pale and Derek was terrified that he’d just made things worse.

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” Melissa blurted out but nothing happened and she looked at Stiles in confusion. 

“I think, I’m not sure, but I don’t have my magic back, not yet, not until the ring is claimed. I guess the original challenge isn’t over so you can’t start another one.” Stiles said not breaking eye contact with Matt as the man took a step forward and the pack growled at him. 

“You kill me before I claim the ring and Stiles dies, the challenge isn’t finished. His magic will kill him. You really want to do that when you’re so close to getting him back? Or you can let me claim what is rightfully mine and then challenge me if you like.” He smirked when none of them moved. “Stiles, the instant I put on this ring I want you to make sure they can’t move and they can’t speak. Then we can discuss your orders. Understood?” Matt ordered and Stiles glared at him.

“I will kill you.” Stiles snarled dangerously, swaying slightly and pressing a hand against his stomach before he threw up the sludge again and his knees trembled, “I’ll fight you every single fucking second and you’ll spend every second of what’s left of your life trying to keep me under control but you’ll know that eventually, I’ll be the one to kill you. You take that ring and you will die, painfully, horribly and slowly.” Stiles panted as he threw up again as Matt walked towards Kate’s body. 

“Yeah, it sure looks that you’re incredibly dangerous right now.” Matt mocked, “Besides, I’m going to have a lot of fun breaking any spirit you have left, Kate was too soft on you, you can’t begin to imagine the pain I’m going to inflict on you.” He stopped in front of Kate’s body, turning to look at James and Daniel who were evidently still trying to process the fact that Kate was dead, that Matt was the one now in charge of Stiles’ actions. “He is mine now, you have two choices, I kill you or you do as you’re told, listen to my orders, and I let you live.” Matt said, crouching down next to Kate’s hand. 

“I’m staying with you.” James said glancing at Daniel who was looking at Stiles. 

“We still get to fuck with him?” Daniel asked and Matt looked at Stiles and shrugged. 

“You’ll be allowed to beat him as often as you want, but, nothing else other than that. He’s going to be mine and mine alone in every other way, no more kissing or anything else remotely sexual, he’s mine, he’s going to be mine in every way and everybody is going to know that.” Matt said, smirking at Stiles who looked revolted at the thought. “First, we kill these mutts, and then the real fun begins.” 

“Alright, they’re acceptable terms.” Daniel replied and Matt grinned, reaching forward and intending to grab the ring off Kate’s finger when he was blasted backwards and flew through the air until he hit the wall of the motel behind him, sliding to the floor, groaning loudly as he tried to stand back up. “What the fuck was that?” Daniel said and Derek couldn’t help but echo the sentiment, he didn’t understand what was going on. 

“I’m going to take a wild guess that that was the ring telling Matt to back the fuck off because he’s not my master.” Stiles said looking elated, a feral grin on his lips and Derek felt his heart skip because Stiles looked dangerous and deadly and most of all, he looked relieved, despite the fact he was still shaking with pain, he looked so relieved that Derek couldn’t help but relax instantly. 

“What?” Lydia asked, “I mean…he said the challenge, Kate is dead, he’s alive. How is he not your master?” She winced at the word and looked at Stiles apologetically, he gave her a small shrug, not meeting her eyes. He stood up a little straighter, wincing slightly at the pain in his body, where blood still ran from the wounds Derek had inflicted, and stared at Matt who was getting back to his feet unsteadily and glaring at Stiles with rage. 

“I guess the books didn’t know everything.” Stiles said, refusing to look at him or any of the pack, “Derek, do you want to grab the ring already?” Stiles asked and Derek stared at him with terror. 

“What!? No. I don’t want to get blasted…”

“You won’t do.” Stiles assured him, still glaring at Matt with hatred.

“But… I’m not… I can’t be your master.” Derek said feeling petrified, he couldn’t be the one to order Stiles around, that wasn’t possible, god, he thought he was going to be sick. 

“You killed Kate, I’m taking a stab in the dark here, but, I’m almost certain that since you killed her, you get the ring.” Stiles replied simply. 

“I only killed her so that Matt could be in charge and then your dad could challenge him while he was still trying to get your orders in place. That’s how it works, right? I mean, I can’t be in charge…what? How is that even possible?” 

“How is any of this possible?” Stiles asked through gritted teeth, “Werewolves, banshees, hunters, magic. It’s all impossible. And yet here we are.” He paused, taking a breath and looking like he was going to be sick. “Now, can you please. Take. The. Fucking. Ring.” He growled. 

“What if I don’t?” Derek asked, looking at Stiles with wide eyes, “I mean, if I don’t take it? If you take it instead? Does that free you?” 

“I can’t touch it.” Stiles snapped, “And,” He took a deep breath, looking pained, “It’s getting worse, so, can you please take the ring before I start puking my lungs out again and that’s not even exaggerating, my lungs are literally turning to sludge so can you just take it already.” Stiles said and Derek moved to grab the ring before he’d even thought about it, the idea that he was causing Stiles pain by not doing it, no, he’d take the ring and deal with the consequences later. 

He hesitated for the briefest second, just in case Stiles was wrong, bracing himself to be thrown backwards by the ring, but, instead, it slid easily from Kate’s finger and Derek held it tightly in his fist, studying the glow in his hand with wonder. Stiles visibly relaxed, the lines disappearing from his skin, even if the injuries from Derek’s attack were still there, and, god, Derek felt guilt flood through him at that, he’d attacked Stiles, he’d tried to rape him, no, this was not what he needed to focus on right now, instead he was panicking, he was Stiles’ master, Stiles had to follow his orders, this was ridiculous, beyond belief, he should have never let Stiles out of his sight, the moment he met him, he should have just held on to him as tight as he could, he should have never let Kate and Gerard have the opportunity to get their hands on Stiles in the first place. 

Stiles straightened up, looking across at the three men who had made his life a living hell for the past year, who had spent every second of every day finding a new way to torment Stiles, Kate was dead, there was nothing he could do to her no matter how badly he wanted to bring her back just to kill her slowly, but, to the others? Oh, he was going to have so much fun ripping them apart piece by piece. He froze them in place, making sure they couldn’t speak, he was going to kill them, painfully, but, right now, his priorities were elsewhere.

“So, are you, um, are you okay now? You’re not in pain?” Noah took a step forwards as if to hug Stiles and Stiles took a step away, making sure his father couldn’t touch him. 

“Stiles?” Scott whispered in confusion and Stiles stared at the ground rather than look at them, at any of them. 

“I…Her orders…” He muttered. 

“You don’t have to follow her orders anymore Stiles, she’s dead, you never have to listen to her again.” Allison reassured him. 

“Derek?” Stiles looked to him and Derek felt disgust run through him that Stiles had to ask him.

“Forget all her orders Stiles. You never have to follow any of her orders again. You can look at anybody any way you want, you can say anything you want, do anything you want, you don’t have to do anything she told you to do.” Derek said angrily, he couldn’t believe what Kate had put him through, he wished he could bring her back to kill her all over again. 

“Can I heal?” Stiles whispered and Derek nodded quickly. 

“Yeah, yes, yes of course you can.” He said, watching with awe as the cuts and bruises began to fade from his skin, Derek noticed the bite mark at Stiles’ neck as it began to heal and he froze. “I bit you! Oh god, I bit you, shit, are you okay? Do you feel okay? Is it going to take? I don’t see any sign of it going bad, but, still, shit, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry, I know you never wanted to be a werewolf, shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Derek rambled while Stiles just looked at him with amusement, his eyebrows arching up as Derek continued to mutter in worry. Derek was stunned by that look alone, Stiles was looking at him and it wasn’t with hatred, it wasn’t with rage, it was just Stiles. Just Stiles looking at him like he didn’t hate him, it was enough for Derek to almost collapse in relief, because he'd missed that look, missed having Stiles meet his gaze and not look like he was repulsed by him.

“Dude, relax, I’m fine.” Stiles reassured him, “I can’t be turned, something about my magic over-riding the bite. Casters can’t be turned into shifters.” 

“You’re definite?” Noah asked with worry and Stiles nodded. 

“Tried and tested. Multiple times. I’m still human, sort of.” Stiles said and Derek felt himself relax until he processed what Stiles had said. 

“What the hell do you mean ‘tried and tested’!? Did she get other Alphas to bite you!?” 

“It’s not a big deal.” Stiles shrugged avoiding his gaze again, almost submissively and Derek winced at the small movement.

“Like hell it isn’t!” Noah said in outrage. 

“Dad, relax.” Stiles said, reaching out to touch Noah’s arm and then freezing, looking at the point where his fingers brushed his father’s bare skin. 

“Stiles?” Noah asked, seeing the sudden tension in Stiles shoulders, the rapid beat of his heart. 

“I touched you.” Stiles whispered sounding awestruck. 

“So?” Noah queried. 

“And I didn’t hurt you.” Stiles replied before surging forwards and pulling Noah into a tight hug, his arms wrapped around his dad’s shoulders, clinging to him like his life depended on it, Noah hugged back just as tightly, his arms around Stiles’ back, holding his son tightly to him. 

“It’s okay Stiles, we’ve got you, you’re safe now, you’re okay.” Noah muttered into Stiles’ ear and Stiles nodded still clinging to his father. Noah couldn’t help but notice that Stiles was so much colder than him, maybe it was because now he was a werewolf, he ran hotter than he used to, but, all he wanted to do was hold his son tight to him and never let him go.

“I’m so sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I called you a monster, you’re not a monster, none of you are, I am, I’m the only monster here, I’m so sorry dad, I love you, I love you so much.” Stiles whimpered, sounding like he was on the verge of bursting in to tears. 

“Stop that.” Noah said, pulling away to look Stiles in the eyes, “Stop it right now. You are not a monster Stiles. You are my son. I love you. You will never be a monster. Never. That was her, all her.” Noah said firmly and Stiles blinked a few times before nodding, it was obvious to all of them that he didn’t believe Noah’s words in the slightest. “We’ll talk about this when we get home, okay?” Noah said and Stiles nodded. 

Home. God, he’d forgotten such a word existed, he didn’t deserve one, or a family, but here was his dad, telling him they were going home, it felt impossible, unbelievable. 

“What are we going to do with them?” Erica said, indicating the three men that were still stood frozen near the motel wall, the entire pack looked towards Stiles, who was staring at the three men with such hatred that they could almost taste it in the air. 

“Derek?” Stiles asked and Derek looked at him startled. 

“Why are you asking me? You’re the one they’ve hurt.” Derek said and Stiles stared at him. 

“You’re my master. I follow your orders.” Stiles said simply and Derek felt his stomach clench uncomfortably. 

“So if I told you to kill them?” He asked. 

“You can’t order me to kill, you can’t order me to make people fall in love with you or anyone else and I’m pretty certain you can’t order me to bring people back from the dead, I haven’t ever tried that though so I’m not a hundred percent sold on it.” Stiles explained, “I can make the choice to kill them, but, if you don’t want me to, order me not to, then I have to listen to you.” 

“They have to die. They helped her murder my parents.” Sam piped up from behind Boyd and Stiles looked at him in surprise, he obviously hadn’t realised the boy was there. “They killed them. They laughed about it. They need to die.” 

“Do you want them dead?” Derek asked Stiles who looked again at Daniel, James and Matt. 

“More than anything.” Stiles confessed and the pack all allowed their eyes to flash as they looked at them, the men practically wet themselves in terror and Stiles couldn’t help but feel pleasure from that. 

“Okay. So we kill them then.” Derek said, like that resolved everything and Stiles looked at him incredulously. 

“You don’t kill people. You help those that need it, you can’t kill them. You have to be better than that.” Stiles argued. 

“They deserve to die. Look what they’ve done to you, what they did to Sam’s parents. Are you honestly telling me the world wouldn’t be better without them in it?” Derek replied. 

“I didn’t say they wouldn’t die. I said you wouldn’t do it. That’s my job.” Stiles said, glancing to Sam, “You should go wait in the car, I intend to make it painful and I don’t want you to have to see that.” 

“I want to see it.” Sam replied, moving towards Stiles and reaching out to hold his hand, “They killed my parents. I want to see them hurt.” 

“We all do.” Noah snarled and Stiles glanced again at Derek who nodded grimly.

“Whatever you want to do to them, you can do.” Derek said and Stiles twisted his fingers discreetly, Matt’s knees snapped, bending in the wrong direction as he collapsed to the ground, screaming loudly in agony as Stiles took a step forward, and repeated the action to James and Daniel until all three were screaming on the floor. Stiles let go of Sam’s hand and crouched down in front of Matt who was shouting bloody murder, Stiles just smirked at him. 

“You know, I could be cruel, I could make you suffer through every single one of the injuries you’ve inflicted on me over the past year, you remember that special night in February where you got to pick whatever weapon you wanted and you told me that you weren’t going to stop until my voice gave out from screaming?” Stiles asked and Matt nodded, tears in his eyes, “Yeah, well, we could play that game, except, this time, you’re on the losing side, how’s that sound?” 

“Please, don’t…” Matt begged and Stiles laughed mirthlessly. 

“And I should have mercy on you? When you showed me none?” He replied vindictively. 

“I’m sorry, please…” Matt whimpered, “Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο…” He began, his voice trailing off when Stiles pinched his fingers together and Matt started to choke for breath, his face turning red as his oxygen supply was cut off. 

“Maybe I should be nice, maybe I should just kill you quickly, show you mercy that way. Or maybe, I’ll let you live, maybe I’ll rip your tongue out so you can never say another word, break your spine so you’re incapable of moving ever again in your life, but you’ll still be alive. Does that sound like mercy to you?” Stiles taunted and Matt paled. 

“Don’t show them any mercy. They didn’t show my parents any.” Sam muttered even if he looked kind of sick at the sight in front of him and Stiles paused, turning to look at the boy in front of him before he clicked his fingers and Matt, James and Daniel all slumped unconscious to the ground. “Are they dead?” Sam whispered and Stiles shook his head sadly. 

“Sam, what they did to your parents was unforgiveable.” Stiles said, crouching down so he was the same height as Sam, “And I don’t blame you for wanting them dead, not in the slightest, I want them dead too.”

“So kill them then.” 

“I can’t.” Stiles said sounding pained. 

“But you said you could…”

“That was the wrong wording. I can kill them. But I won’t. Because it’s the wrong thing to do.” Stiles said, looking like it was the last thing he wanted to do, that he wanted to rip and tear them apart and it was taking all of his willpower not to kill them, Sam looked ready to protest and Stiles held up a finger telling him to wait, to let him explain, “There are plenty of people in this world who are going to hurt you, who are going to hurt those you care about, and, god, you’re going to want to hurt them back, make them pay, especially when you reach the age when you start shifting, when you’ve got to try and tame the wildness of your wolf. Which is why I can’t do this right now. Because you have to know that vengeance isn’t the way to do this. Hurting people who hurt you, that’s not the right thing. You have to be better than them. You have to show them that you are a thousand times better than them, more human than them, because people will be looking for any reason to call you a monster and you have to show them that you aren’t. Killing people for vengeance isn’t right. Killing somebody should always be a last resort. I’m not saying that we can’t kill, we can, but it should only be when there is no other option, and there are other options here.” 

“You can’t be serious!?” Chris shouted and Stiles looked at him in confusion. “Stiles, these bastards kidnapped you, tortured you, abused you, raped you, made you help them kill people, hurt people, they shot you, stabbed you, beat you, the list is fucking endless and you’re honestly going to let them live because ‘vengeance is wrong’!?” 

“You have no idea what they did to me.” Stiles snarled quietly, dangerously, almost ferally, “You have no idea what I suffered through at the hands of your father, of your sister. You may have seen some of what I’ve gone through, but it is absolutely nothing in the scheme of things, don’t pretend you have any idea what I’ve had to deal with when you are partially responsible.” Stiles snapped.

“Responsible!?” Chris said, the colour draining from his face, “Stiles, if I’d had any idea what was happening to you…”

“You knew what was happening to Erica and Boyd in that basement and you did nothing to help them. You could have stopped all this before it even started if you’d just stood up to your father.” Stiles growled and Chris lost all colour.

“Stiles, I’m so sorry, I didn’t…” He swallowed loudly, “You’re right, I should have stopped him. There is no excuse for my behaviour and I’m sorry.” Stiles stared at him, as if unable to believe that Chris had agreed he was right, he paused, trying to process it before he nodded. 

“Alright, well, good, so long as you know you messed up, I forgive you.” He said, Chris looked at him astonished.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Stiles shrugged, “You’ve obviously proved your worthiness to the pack, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, so, ‘just like that’. All is forgiven.” He said simply while Chris looked like he was in shock, Stiles ignored him instead taking a calming breath and turning back towards Sam, “As I was saying, I’m not saying that they don’t deserve to pay for what they’ve done, but, there’s a right and wrong way to do this.” 

“So what are you going to do to them?” Sam whispered quietly and Stiles glanced around before pausing when he spotted the cameras at the entrances, a plan forming in his head. 

“Derek, can I go check something out?” 

“You don’t need to ask my permission; you can do whatever you like.” Derek replied and Stiles grinned at him sheepishly. 

“I kind of do, you know, with you owning the ring and everything.” 

“Um, right, only temporarily though, just until we find a way to free you.” Derek insisted, “But, yeah, go check out whatever you need to, do whatever you want to do to them. I’m all for it, I’ll support whatever decision you make.” He said before Stiles moved towards the front office. 

He returned a few minutes later, looking triumphant, waving his fingers slightly to change the scene in front of him, Kate now appeared to have died from a knife to the chest rather than her throat being ripped out and Matt, James and Daniel were all surrounding her, several bloody knives in their hands. Stiles closed his eyes and concentrated, scrunching his eyes slightly as if he was struggling with something before his fingers glowed a soft gold and a faint, shimmering, swirling mist appeared and then shot outwards in the direction of the town. 

Stiles swayed slightly as he stood but he looked relieved and that was all Derek could ask for, he couldn’t help but stare at Stiles, at how perfect he was, then his mind flashed back to Stiles underneath him, whimpering in pain as Derek’s claws tore into his skin and he felt physically sick. 

“We should leave before the police get here.” Stiles said, moving towards the cars slowly, glancing back at Derek in hesitation, seeking his permission. 

“Right, sure, yes, you can get in the car.” Derek said, frowning in frustration, this was exhausting, they had to find a way to free Stiles and quickly. 

“So you called the police?” Melissa asked as they all piled into the cars. 

“Yeah, I told the guy on the desk that I heard three men arguing with a woman in the room underneath mine. Then I deleted us off the CCTV and made it look like Kate and the guys were arguing and they stabbed her. Plus, I, um, kind of used magic to make sure the DNA from all four of them is going to be on Mike, Henry and Henry’s girlfriends body, and I kind of called in an anonymous tip as to where to find Henry’s girlfriends body, because, obviously, Mike and Henry are in the room behind us still. They’ll go to prison for a long time, the rest of their lives, they might even get the death penalty, and, if they do, that’s okay, because the justice system decided it, not us.” Stiles explained and there was a stunned silence. 

“Wow. Okay, well, that solves that problem then.” Peter said and Stiles nodded silently. 

“You look exhausted kiddo, why don’t you sleep for a bit? We’ll wake you up when we get home?” Noah said, wrapping an arm around Stiles’ shoulder and pulling him into his side so Stiles could rest his head on Noah’s shoulder, Stiles looked to Derek who grimaced. 

“Go to sleep if you want to Stiles.” Derek replied, cursing himself, wishing they’d realised that it was whoever killed Kate that would gain control of Stiles, Stiles nodded and closed his eyes, he was asleep within moments and Derek relaxed slightly, knowing that at least while Stiles was asleep Derek couldn’t fuck things up massively.


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone could see that Derek was panicking at the thought of being able to order Stiles to do anything he wanted, none of them could blame him, Stiles was always doing the unexpected, being in control of him in any way shape or form felt wrong. They had to find a way to reverse the ritual and quickly, before it destroyed any kind of relationship Stiles and Derek had, Lydia had already taken pictures of the ring and was scrolling through the internet to try and find what the symbols meant, Derek prayed she found something quickly. 

By the time they arrived back at the house Stiles had stirred a few times before drifting back to sleep, Derek couldn’t help but study Stiles as he slept, even though his eyes were supposed to be on the road, he kept glancing at Stiles, kept looking at the paleness of his skin, the dark circles under his eyes, the way his t-shirt showed off just how much weight he’d lost in the past week, he wasn’t starving, but, he obviously hadn’t been properly fed in a while, he needed food and sleep and rest and to be surrounded by people who loved him. 

Stiles flinched when Noah touched his arm to wake him, he startled upright, staring at Noah with terror in his eyes before he realised it was his father in front of him. 

“Sorry.” Stiles muttered before his voice trailed off and he stared at the house in front of him, he didn’t want to be back here, he wanted to be back in his own home, pretend that if he crawled under the covers his mom would come through the door with a hot chocolate and read him a bedtime story as he fell asleep to the sound of her voice. 

“Stiles?” Derek queried, “You okay?” Stiles looked at him, looked at the surrounding pack who were obviously all picking up on his fear, he gritted his teeth and nodded. 

“Yeah, sure, fine.” He said, stepping out of the car and staring at the house again, this was just a house, it was four walls and a roof, it was only a house, it was the people that made it a home, he had to block out what Kate had done, focus instead on the people that were around him now, his dad, the pack, Sam. He couldn’t show them how broken he was, they wouldn’t want him if they realised just how broken he was. “So…” He said, doing his best to sound bright, positive, hopeful, “Where am I sleeping?” He smiled but it felt forced and he knew the others noticed. 

“Stiles, I’m sorry, our house was repossessed with the hospital bills and stuff.” Noah explained, “I understand if you don’t want to stay here after everything that happened, we can go find a hotel if you prefer? I don’t have much money, I haven’t got back to work yet, but we could probably do a few nights?” 

“I’ll pay for it.” Derek insisted, his job paid well and Noah and Stiles had been through hell in the past year, he would pay for anything they wanted if it meant they weren’t struggling. 

“No, no, it’s fine.” Stiles insisted, he wasn’t going to use the last of his dad’s money just because he was scared and he sure as hell wasn’t taking charity from Derek, “It’s only a house, right?” He said, walking up the front steps and trying not to think about how Kate had made him bleed over and over in this house. “Well, this has changed in the last few days.” He muttered, taking in the empty living room, the furniture had all been ripped out at some point recently and Stiles didn’t need to be a genius to figure out why, they probably all stank of blood. 

“Yeah, sorry it’s a bit sparse, but we can get new furniture tomorrow.” Erica said, leaning gently against Stiles’ side, inhaling gently as if his scent somehow relaxed her, Stiles couldn’t deal with trying to figure out what that was about right now, so he let it slide. 

“I mean, if you know what you want, my magic, um, I’ve not got lots of experience at creating things, mainly because I tend to destroy everything, but, well, if you had some kind of furniture in mind, I could probably maybe at least try and make you some?” Stiles suggested quietly and everyone stared at him. 

“Can you make a really big armchair, kind of dark green with high sides?” Sam asked a moment later, breaking the silence that had followed Stiles’ announcement, “My dad used to sit in it, put me on his lap and read me bedtime stories.” He explained and Stiles nodded. 

“Sure, I can…I’ll try.” He whispered, closing his eyes and concentrating for a moment before he held his hand out in front of him and a large, dark green armchair appeared out of thin air. 

“Wow.” Sam muttered in awe, moving towards it and climbing in to it easily, making himself comfortable. 

“Could you do something similar, for the rest of the room?” Peter asked and Stiles hesitated for a second before he squeezed his eyes shut in concentration and several sofas, chairs, tables and rugs appeared around the room. 

“God that’s amazing.” Scott whispered, reaching out to touch one of the sofas, trailing his hand along the soft material as if he expected it to vanish under his fingertips before slowly, very slowly, he sank into the seat and let out a sigh of relief, “You have such awesome powers dude, like, seriously, this is awesome.” 

“Yeah I mean, I guess it has it’s perks.” Stiles muttered quietly, looking exhausted, Derek looked at him, then across at Sam, there were things that they needed to discuss, things that a child shouldn’t hear.

“Sam, why don’t you head up to bed, it’s been a long few days?” Derek suggested and Sam glanced at Stiles before rushing forward and hugging him tightly around the waist, Stiles was caught by surprise and he stilled for a moment before hugging Sam back, running a soothing hand over the back of his neck and through his hair. 

“Thank you.” Sam muttered into Stiles’ stomach and Stiles tensed, feeling sick, he’d failed Sam, he’d failed to save his parents, he’d let Kate bite Sam, he’d let the people who helped her live, there was no reason for Sam to thank him. 

“You don’t have to thank…” Stiles began and Sam squeezed a little tighter.

“Thanks for saving my life, for protecting me from her, for looking after…” Sam let out a quiet sob before catching himself, “for making sure my mom and dad had somewhere nice to stay.” Stiles clung tighter to him, wishing the hug would be enough, that it would offer Sam comfort that Stiles just didn’t have the words for. Stiles hugged him until Sam pulled away, knowing that it was the best he could offer, “You’re cold.” Sam muttered and Stiles blushed slightly. 

“Sorry.” He muttered at a loss for words, unsure how to reply, Sam just shrugged before he moved and gave Derek and Noah a hug, waving to the others and then disappearing up the stairs to go to bed.

“He understands you would have done more if it was possible.” Noah said and Stiles nodded, blinking back tears. 

“So, what happens now?” Scott asked and Stiles shrugged, he wanted to know that too. 

“We find a way to reverse the ritual, to free Stiles.” Lydia said simply, Stiles wished it was that simple. 

“The sooner the better.” Derek muttered darkly and they all nodded in agreement. 

“Couldn’t we just order Stiles to free himself?” Scott suggested. 

“I don’t know how. I don’t know what ordering me to do it would do, but I don’t think it would be a good thing.” Stiles replied. 

“Can we try?” Scott pressed and Stiles shrugged before looking to Derek. 

“Stiles, I order you to free yourself.” Derek said confidently, Stiles looked at him for a moment before a gold glow appeared around him, Stiles squeezed his eyes shut, a grimace on his features, Derek prayed that it was working, that it was that simple, except, a moment later, Stiles stumbled, almost falling to the ground as Erica reached out to grab his arm to stop him from hitting the floor.

“Please don’t make me do that again.” Stiles whispered, all colour gone from his face, looking like he was going to be sick, Derek nodded fervently, he wasn’t sure what had happened, but he knew it had hurt Stiles. He wouldn’t ever issue that order again.

“Why don’t we just try destroying the ring? I mean, if you’re bound to the ring then destroying it should break the bindings, right?” Isaac suggested and Stiles shrugged. 

“I guess? It’s not like Kate would have ever tried destroying it.” Stiles said and Derek clenched his jaw before moving to the cupboard and pulling out a hammer, placing the ring on the worktop in front of him and glancing nervously at Stiles, “Go for it.” He said, Derek slammed the hammer down hard, hard enough that the ring should have been obliterated, instead it remained undamaged and he snarled, hitting it harder the next time and the next, until the worktop was almost shattering under the force of the impact and yet still the ring was fine. 

“Stop!” Melissa called out and it was only when Derek looked away that he realised Stiles was swaying where he stood, his hands clenched into fists, his skin almost translucent it was so pale and a slow trickle of blood ran from his nose, “Stiles!? Are you alright?” Melissa asked, rushing forward to study Stiles who took a step backwards out of reach before wiping at the blood on his face apologetically. 

“Sorry, just, I don’t want you to be contaminated.” He mumbled and Melissa froze, she’d seen what Stiles’ blood had done to Derek, to the others, she didn’t want to ever react like that towards Stiles, she shook her head, she’d dealt with plenty of people over the years who had issues with their blood, she’d always been careful and she’d been fine, this was just another job. 

“Sit down before you fall down.” She instructed and steered Stiles into the nearest seat, heading to the cupboard that held the first aid kit and pulling it out, putting on a pair of gloves and then studying Stiles. “You can’t heal yourself?” 

“I don’t think there’s anything to heal.” Stiles replied quietly, “It feels more like, like it wasn’t my body that suffered any kind of damage, but it still hurt, that doesn’t make any sense, I know, but, yeah, it felt like something was being ripped out of me.” 

“Why didn’t you say something!?” Derek said in outrage, if he’d realised it was hurting Stiles, he would never had continued in his quest to destroy the ring. 

“I don’t know.” Stiles shrugged, “I guess I thought I could handle it, and, it’d work if I just pushed through the pain?” 

“You’re an idiot.” Scott said fondly and Stiles nodded silently looking distraught as he stared at the floor, “No, I mean, I don’t mean…you’re not an actual idiot, but that was kind of stupid.” Scott backtracked, guilt flooding through him.

“Alright, so, we can’t destroy the ring without hurting Stiles.” Derek said, grabbing a piece of cord and pulling it through the ring before tying the ends together and dropping it over his neck so the ring was hidden under his shirt. “Next plan, any ideas?” 

“Maybe it’s something to do with the script on the ring. I’m trying to translate it but I’m struggling. I’ll keep trying.” Lydia commented but she sounded exhausted. 

“It can wait, you guys need to sleep, you all look pretty wiped.” Stiles suggested and Lydia looked at him gratefully. 

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea, but, there’s other things we should probably discuss first.” Derek said and the entire pack looked at him in confusion. 

“Like what?” Noah asked. 

“Well, for starters, the tracker that Kate implanted. We should take it out.” Derek said, Stiles’ fingers went to his chest, touching it almost subconsciously, before he shook his head. 

“No, no, it’s fine.” He said and Scott raised an eyebrow.

“Stiles, you have a tracker under your skin, it’s probably a good idea if we take it out.” 

“It won’t be a big job, I’ve got the first aid kit, it’ll only take a small cut.” Melissa added. 

“No, honestly, it’s probably a good idea to keep it there, you never know when it might come in handy.” Stiles said dismissively, several members of the pack looked ready to argue when Derek glared them in to submission.

“Fine, okay, if you don’t want it out just yet, that’s okay, let us know as soon as you do and we’ll take it out for you, alright?” Derek said and Stiles nodded. 

“Thanks.” 

“Don’t thank me yet.” Derek muttered, “The other thing I thought we needed to discuss, well, um, Stiles, the things Kate did to you, well...god...I think that...maybe we...you need to get checked out? Like, obviously you can heal from wounds and stuff which is great, but, other things, there’s well, diseases, that can be transmitted, Melissa could probably tell you more than I can, but, you know, you need to be safe, and, well, the situations you were in, it’s not like, you probably had access to, um, I figure that being safe wasn’t really an option, so, maybe you need to get checked out?” Derek rambled, unable to look Stiles in the eye as he spoke. 

“I, you, um, you don’t need to worry about that.” Stiles said, heat colouring his cheeks. 

“Stiles,” Noah said sounding pained, “Derek maybe hasn’t worded it the best way, but, he’s right. I know you might not want to talk about it, but he is right. We should get you checked out. It can wait until you’ve had some sleep and some food, but, tomorrow, maybe we take you to get some tests? Make sure there’s nothing wrong.” 

“No.” Stiles said, glaring at the floor, “I don’t need tests. I,” He paused, swallowing loudly and taking a breath, “You saw the video, of Henry and Mike, what they did, and, well, you heard Kate say that, well, I could choose to let Kate kill him or let Mike take what was left of my ‘innocence’.” 

“Yeah, we saw.” Boyd muttered darkly and Stiles nodded uncomfortably, his tongue darting out to lick his lips nervously. 

“Well, yeah, Kate, she, um, I went through a lot in the last year, obviously, but, erm, she, god, how do I say this?” He said before changing tactics. “There’s certain things my magic can’t force me to do.” 

“Like killing people.” 

“Yeah, like that.” Stiles nodded, “Like I told you before, she couldn’t order me to kill anyone, couldn’t make me force someone to love her or anybody else, couldn’t force me bring people back from the dead, but, well, the other thing she couldn’t do, well,” He cleared his throat, “She had this whole thing that she wanted to be the one to take my virginity, apparently, she, um, she has this thing for virgins.” Stiles muttered, his cheeks heating up in humiliation, “And, well, the other thing she couldn’t do, she couldn’t force me to, god, she couldn’t force me to be excited.” He flushed darkly, “And, well, she kept trying, and, she liked keeping me there, with at least one of the others, you know, for the boost from my blood, so they could both, or all of them if she was really horny, get the boost and stuff, and, they’d do lots of things,” Stiles shuddered, “to, um, try and get me excited and stuff, but, she wouldn’t let them fuck me, because she wanted to take my virginity and they weren’t allowed to take it first.” Stiles explained, “So, you know, no STD’s for me, I’m all disease free and you know, still a virgin so there’s that.” 

Stiles’ confession was met by silence, the entire pack looking at him in astonishment and relief.

“Well, that’s, erm, that’s good then.” Noah said clearing his throat uncomfortably, “I mean, not the whole other ‘things’ that happened, that’s something we’ll have to talk about, when you’re ready, if you want to, but, that you don’t need, um, testing for anything, that’s good.” 

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded, “Anyway, so, yeah, there’s one thing you don’t need to worry about, so, sleep?” He asked and Derek nodded dumbly, he was so relieved that Kate hadn’t raped Stiles, well, not completely, no doubt she’d done other things that would classify as rape, but, the fact that Stiles was still a virgin made him almost collapse in relief, other than his wolf, which was, for some reason that he would never be able to explain, so excited by the fact, so glad that their mate was still a virgin, that they’d be the ones that got to show him how good sex could be. Derek growled his wolf into submission, he was not going to have sex with Stiles, god, they’d only just freed him from Kate, he was still bound to Derek, no, sex wasn’t something he could ever think about, not until Stiles was free, until he could make that choice himself. 

“That’s a good plan, we should all try and get some sleep, Stiles, I’ll show you to the spare room, it can be your room, if you want it, I mean, to stay here, you can stay as long as you like, it can be your home too, if you want.” Derek said and Stiles followed in silence after him up the stairs to the third floor.

“You need a new bed too?” Stiles asked when he walked past Derek’s room and saw the empty space where the bed used to be. 

“I’ll sort something tomorrow.” Derek shrugged dismissively. 

“It’s cool, tell me what you want, and I’ll try and make you one.” Stiles said and Derek paused, evidently thinking. 

“Something simple would be good, but, um, sometimes we all kind of pile in together, so, maybe kind of big?” He asked and Stiles nodded before waving his hand and a large bed appeared in the middle of his room, bigger than his previous one and it looked so comfortable that Derek couldn’t wait to fall in to it and sleep for a week. “Thanks.” He muttered in awe before carrying on to the next door that led to the middle bedroom, it had a large window that looked out on to the preserve and was sparsely furnished, they’d not really used it for anything yet and Kate hadn’t been in there so at least Derek hadn’t had to destroy this bed too. “You can have this room for now, we can figure out stuff tomorrow, you know, looking at getting your dads house back or getting you somewhere else to stay or something.” Derek rambled and Stiles nodded silently. 

“You going to be okay in here kiddo? I’m just across the hall and Derek is the one side and Lydia and Jackson are on your other side, and Sam is on one side of me and Cora on the other, will that be okay? The rooms are soundproof so if you need one of us, just come knock, alright?” Noah asked and Stiles nodded, his gaze still looking out of the window. 

“I’ll be fine daddio, you go get some sleep, you look like you need it, just because you’re a werewolf doesn’t mean you don’t need sleep.” Stiles joked although it sounded forced and Noah nodded before giving Stiles a tight hug and heading off into his own bedroom, the rest of them taking another look at Stiles, waving goodnight and heading in to their own rooms. 

Stiles gave up on even attempting to sleep around two in the morning, his brain was racing, he’d stared out of the window long after everybody else had gone to sleep, he couldn’t believe Kate was dead, couldn’t believe that he was free of her, he didn’t want to belong to anybody, and the thought of having to follow Derek’s orders still made him feel nauseous, but, Derek was a million times better than Kate, or, at least the Derek he remembered was. Except, he didn’t know this Derek, he’d been separated from the pack for over a year and maybe they’d been kind of nice to him, saying they were going to get him free and stuff and they’d risked their lives to save him, but, still, they hadn’t called him, not once, they’d not even bothered to check in on him, not bothered to see that he was okay after his dad was shot. 

He’d been smart, he’d made Gerard think he’d tortured Sofia’s name out of him, he hadn’t, Stiles had given it willingly so that Scott would realise he was in trouble, that he needed help, and none of them had come. What had happened after that, the pain he’d gone through, the torture, the abuse, he’d kept thinking they would come, he’d kept holding out hope, until around the four month mark when Kate had made him use his magic to hold somebody still while she skinned them alive, ordering Stiles to watch, to not blink, to not move a muscle until she was done. It took hours for them to die. Stiles realised then that nobody was coming for him, nobody was going to save him, he was going to belong to Kate for the rest of his life. 

It was at that point that he’d started plotting his escape, determined to get away from her no matter what, it took eight months for him to find a way around her orders, eight months before he could sneak away and try to end things. Kate had been right, he’d been weak, he should have killed himself the second he escaped from her, instead, he’d told himself he had to save his father, that his dad had to live, that one of them had to survive this, that saving his dad would make up for some of the awful things he’d done. That choice had given Kate the chance to capture him again and more people had died because of that. Sam’s parents had died because of that.

He didn’t think the pack were monsters, he didn’t hate them or wish they were dead or anything like that, he was just being realistic. If he’d mattered to any of them, in the slightest, then they would have called, they would have searched for him, in fact, Stiles was almost certain the only reason they’d continued to try and rescue him once his dad was awake was out of some kind of guilt or pity, just as Daniel said, it wasn’t because they actually cared about him. 

He cursed quietly, pushing himself off the bed where he’d lay down, realising there was no way his brain was going to shut off long enough to allow him to sleep, not without nightmares anyway, he paced around the room for an hour, running over and over in his head at how little he mattered, how the pack had only tried to save him out of some kind of duty, that the people he’d thought he’d known, that he’d risked his life time after time to protect just because he cared about them, would never care about him in the same way. Kate was right. He was nothing. He was worthless. He was a monster.

“Shut up.” He muttered to himself, the voice in his head sounding surprisingly like Kate, he had to change, he had to be better behaved, he had to stop arguing and fighting and being loud and annoying, he had to. It was the only way to prove to the pack that he was worthy of being here. He must have dozed for an hour or so, waking up with a scream being torn from his throat, thankful that the room was soundproof so that he didn’t disturb anybody else. He realised then that sleep wasn’t going to be an option for him, not when he closed his eyes and felt like his entire body was being ripped apart in his nightmares. He headed downstairs, creating a mug of coffee out of thin air and drinking it steadily, ignoring the burn on his tongue, sitting instead in the armchair he had made for Sam that was positioned by the window, looking out at the grounds around the house, trying to forget about the horrors in his nightmare. Focusing instead on the way the sun was just starting to rise behind the trees, how the lawn was filled with fallen leaves and the crisp brightness of an autumn morning, trying to remember the last time he’d been able to sit in peace like this.

Sam wandered downstairs first, wide awake first thing in the morning, and spotted Stiles instantly, he clambered into Stiles’ lap and sat with him, staring out of the window. Stiles felt the heat of Sam pressing into his side and he smiled softly, it was the first time in so long that he’d felt the heat from another body that wasn’t somebody trying to hurt him, other than the hug with his dad yesterday, he wasn’t really used to it anymore. They sat in silence for a long time, Stiles wrapping an arm around Sam’s side when the child snuggled into his chest, before Sam finally broke the silence. 

“I miss them, all the time.” He whispered and Stiles felt his heart breaking, that was his fault, he should have tried harder, he was an idiot, a failure, he didn’t know what he could say to make it better. “Do you miss your mom?” Sam asked and Stiles’ eyes filled with tears, he was caught off guard by the question. 

“All the time.” He said, his voice cracking as he cleared his throat to try and rid himself of the tears. 

“Does it get easier?” Sam asked in a small voice and Stiles pressed his lips into a firm line, not sure how to answer that one. 

“Yeah, it does.” He said sadly, “There won’t be a single day that you don’t miss them. You’ll look for them all the time, when you do something that they’d shout at you for or something where you know that they’d be proud of you, you’ll look for them, expecting them to be there, and they won’t be, and it’ll hurt. But it does get easier. And, having people around that care about you, that helps.” He paused, “You’ll have the pack around you, and they’ll look out for you, they’ll be your family, even if it’s not your blood family, they’ll still be family to you, they’ll be the brothers and sisters and aunties and uncles and the family you never asked for but will still be there for you. Every second of every day. They’ll help. They won’t ever replace your parents, nobody will, but, having them around, it’ll help you.” 

“What about you?” Sam replied and Stiles glanced at him, “Will you be around?” 

“Yeah, yeah, of course I will.” Stiles said, although he wasn’t sure that was true. Would the pack want him around? At the moment he was bound to Derek so they had to keep him around, but, once the bindings were broken, would any of them actually want him to stay here? He didn’t know the answer. He hoped they would, but no doubt he’d start annoying them again within weeks, if he hadn’t already, he’d just have to be on his best behaviour. 

Derek stood on the bottom stair and stared at the chair where Stiles and Sam were both sat, cuddled up next to each other, he could see the back of Sam’s head and Stiles’ profile, he looked lost in thought and Derek thought Sam was asleep, he looked to be asleep anyway if the steady beat of his heart and even breathing were anything to go by. They both looked peaceful, relaxed, even if Stiles still looked too tired and exhausted, Derek would have to fix that. He stepped off the stairs and moved towards the living room, Stiles’ eyes shooting to his instantly and then back to Sam who was sleeping on him.

“I’m making breakfast, do you want some?” Derek asked quietly and Stiles hesitated, eyeing the cord around Derek’s neck that held the ring that controlled Stiles, “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, but you should eat, you’ve lost weight.” He whispered and Stiles’ gaze darted towards the floor self-consciously, “I mean, you know, you need to keep your strength up.” He said grimacing at how incompetent he was at this when all he wanted to do was reach out and touch Stiles, hold him, tell him how perfect he was. 

“Food would be good, but, um, I, can I have a shower?” Stiles asked and Derek gritted his teeth in frustration. 

“You don’t have to ask Stiles. Of course you can. Can you… if I just said to you that you never have to follow a single one of my orders and you can do whatever you like, would that work?” He asked awkwardly and Stiles shook his head sadly. 

“Sort of, but, in the long run, no.” Sam stirred in his lap and Stiles glanced down at him, stroking his hair soothingly, “Hey kid, good sleep?” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Sam said, rubbing his eyes and stretching slightly, freezing when he registered Derek was there, “Hi.” 

“Hey kid, I’m making breakfast, want some?” He smiled and Sam nodded, shifting off Stiles’ lap and moving towards the kitchen. “You go grab a shower if you like and we’ll talk once I’ve taken him to get enrolled at school?” 

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Stiles said, ruffling Sam’s hair as he headed up the stairs and Sam grinned up after him. 

“Thanks for the talk Stiles!” Sam called after him and Stiles blushed slightly before he disappeared from their view. 

Within the next hour everybody was up and getting ready for their days, it became apparent that although they had Stiles home, there were still things they needed to get done, school and work being the priorities. Thankfully Noah, Peter and Derek were all staying at the house with Stiles, none of them expecting him to return to school just yet, Sam had begged Stiles to come and pick him up from school at the end of the day and Stiles had grinned at him, eventually agreeing that of course he would. 

Stiles was grateful when almost everybody had left, it felt like they’d all been staring at him, waiting for him to freak out or something, Stiles had done his best to stay quiet, to stay out of their way, he didn’t want to irritate them, he just wanted to find a way to be free of Derek’s orders, of anybody’s orders, and then, well, he didn’t know what he wanted then, he wasn’t sure that he would ever know what he wanted again, having Kate decide everything for him for the last year had definitely damaged something inside him, he just hoped it wasn’t completely broken and he could come back from it. 

“So,” Noah said, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table next to Peter and Derek once he’d returned from getting Sam settled at school, pulling his mug of coffee close to him and pushing the plate of biscuits towards Stiles, he shot a look at Derek who nodded and Stiles grabbed one hungrily, he’d eaten at breakfast and it was delicious, but, he could still eat again, the last week had seriously messed him up. 

“Eat as much as you like, whenever you like.” Derek said and Stiles glanced at him gratefully before grabbing several more biscuits and wolfing them down. 

“How does all this work? Do I have to give you specific instructions or something? Like, you’re allowed to have basic human rights?” Derek asked and Stiles pursed his lips in thought. 

“I don’t really remember, when Kate first took ownership,” He admitted, “It’s all a bit of a blur…”

“Why?” Peter asked. 

“What?” 

“Why is it a blur? You seemed to know what was going on when Derek took control?” Peter said, wincing at the word and looking at Stiles apologetically. 

“Well, um, you see, I don’t know how much you know about the, erm, the ritual they used to bind my magic to the ring and Kate originally…”

“We saw diagrams, they needed heart blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and it needed to be done once a day for the week leading up to the full moon.” Peter replied matter of factly. 

“Right, yeah, well, erm, they got that, and, I wasn’t really, I didn’t know what was going on most of the time, I was in and out of consciousness a lot of the time, my magic, it wasn’t like, I couldn’t feel it. When I used it to save dad, it was, it was just there, like this bright white heat and it kind of burned, but in a good way, but, then I couldn’t feel it again, it was gone, like I’d used it all up, and I was so tired and everything hurt, all the time, I just wanted to sleep, and when I was awake, it all kind of felt like a weird dream, blurred and in out of focus, nothing made sense, it was like that too, even after the ritual. It was different, I could feel my magic then, like it was constantly being pulled towards the ring, like they’d put a hook in my chest and tied the other end to the ring and it just pulled me towards it, but, I was so tired and…” Stiles hesitated opening his mouth to speak before shutting it again, lips pressed tight in annoyance, “The first couple of months, I don’t, I remember, but, it was all blurred, like it was happening to someone else, it felt like I was there most of the time, I was screaming to stop, but, I couldn’t stop myself, I couldn’t stop no matter how badly I wanted to and there was pain, so much pain it felt like my head was going to explode and then…” Stiles paused again before continuing, “Kate was my master, and she was telling me all these things, and, when I didn’t listen to her, she hurt me, and my magic responded, did as she said. It took me time to adjust, before I realised exactly what had happened and, well, by then it was too late to change anything.” Stiles explained quietly. 

“We need to research more about how magic works, what all that means, because I don’t have a clue what any of that means, like, how did you get magic? I’m almost certain your mother didn’t have it and I definitely don’t, so, where did you get magic from? And why were you so tired after using it and just, everything?” Noah sighed. 

“We could ask Deaton about magic? Maybe he’ll know a way to break the bindings?” Derek suggested and Peter tensed, “What?” He asked. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Our local druid keeps a lot of information from us, and he already knows about Kate having ownership of Stiles, if he finds out about the ritual, or already knows about it, if he knows how to challenge someone for ownership then…”

“You think he’d challenge Derek and try and take Stiles?” Noah said looking horrified. 

“Not for certain, but Stiles is powerful. We’ve seen what his magic can do. Deaton himself said that his magic is like ‘a two-year-old trying to do parlour tricks in comparison to Merlin’s.’” Peter said and Stiles stared at him in shock, he couldn’t believe Deaton would think that about him, he wasn’t anything special, not really, “I just, I’m not necessarily saying he’d try and take Stiles, but, I wouldn’t put it past him to at least think about it, maybe even act on it, I think, for now, maybe we keep this between ourselves?” 

“That’s probably a good idea.” Derek agreed and Stiles and Noah both nodded. “We can research ourselves, I mean, Boyd found the ritual so we will find a way to reverse it, we have to.”

“And until then?” Stiles asked quietly. 

“Until then, we have to lay down some basic orders, right? I mean, you have to know you’re allowed to eat and drink and sleep and shower whenever you want to?” Derek said and Stiles shook his head. 

“You can’t word it like that, it leaves too many loopholes, like, what if you ordered me to go chase down somebody or something and I decide I’d prefer to sit and have a meal? Which order comes first?” Stiles said and Derek stared at him. 

“So, it’s got to be without loopholes?” He said and Stiles shrugged. 

“That’s up to you, but I have to point out to you any loopholes, it’s part of my orders since I escaped from Kate.” Stiles replied. 

“But you don’t have to follow Kate’s orders anymore Stiles? If you don’t want to point out the loopholes, then you don’t have to.” Derek said. 

“Now you’ve said that I can do, but, you need to specifically tell me to ignore her orders, not generally, so, it’s not, ‘ignore her orders’ it’s ‘you can speak however you want and say whatever you want’, that kind of thing.” Stiles said quietly. 

“Right, so,” Derek took a deep breath, “You can eat whatever you want whenever you want, you can sleep whenever you want, drink whatever you want…”

“Not alcohol, you’re still underage.” Noah interrupted and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Drink whatever you want.” Derek continued, “I’d prefer if you didn’t drink alcohol because you’re underage, but I’m not going to give you any orders that stop you from doing something you do or don’t want to do, okay?” Stiles nodded silently, “Have I missed anything?” 

“Sleeping, showering, going to the toilet, talking, hurting anybody who even looks at my master funny, calling you my master in front of anybody who asks what we are, cutting myself whenever you say without any hesitation so you can taste my blood instantly, no healing myself until you tell me to, no running off, no killing myself, no letting anybody else kill me if I can prevent it….”

“Jesus.” Derek muttered under his breath, unable to believe what Stiles had had to go through, “Okay, well, Stiles, you’re allowed to sleep, shower, go to the toilet and talk whenever you want, argue and shout and scream whenever you want, okay? And, you don’t have to hurt anybody if you don’t want to and please, god, don’t ever call me your master, that’s creepy as fuck, I’ll just be Derek, and you never cut yourself again, not because I tell you to, not because anybody tells you to, and you can heal, whenever you want. You can run away if you want, I’d prefer if you didn’t, we all would, because we want you here, but, if you want to run away, I won’t order you not to, but, you have to come talk to us first, tell us why you want to leave, then we can talk about it. I hope that killing yourself was only an option because of what Kate was doing to you, I hope that you don’t still feel that way, if you do, I want you to come and talk to me before you do anything, talk to me about how you’re feeling and why you would want to do that and then I can talk you out of it, we all can. As for not letting anybody else kill you if you can prevent it, well, I kind of agree with that one, I don’t want to see you dead Stiles, so, if you can save yourself, make sure you do, please. Is that all okay?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded. 

“Yeah, that about covers it.” He agreed in reply, reaching for several more biscuits and creating another mug of coffee for himself. 

“Anything else we need to address that could be an issue? I mean, couldn’t Derek just order you not to follow his orders?” Noah asked. 

“No, because, as soon as he issued an order, I’d have to comply, he could say I order you not to follow any orders, but, then he could say ‘stay awake and protect us from dangers while we sleep’ and I’d have to follow that order, it would override the other order, so, ordering me not to follow orders is kind of pointless, better just to try and avoid giving me orders if that’s what you want to do.” 

“Right, yeah, sure, I can totally do that.” Derek said confidently even though he was terrified he was going to mess this up, he hoped Stiles at least believed him.

“Maybe attempt to sound a bit more confident about that.” Peter muttered and Stiles grinned before getting up from the table and moving to the sink to wash his dishes. 

“Sure, okay, I can do that. I won’t give you any orders Stiles.” Derek said firmly and Stiles snorted with amusement. 

“Alright, I believe you. So, um, what’s the plan here? Don’t you guys have jobs to go to or work to do?” He asked, uncertain of how to behave, he wasn’t used to being around people who weren’t going to beat him or harass him every moment of the day, who weren’t going to laugh every time he flinched, or mock him as they beat him relentlessly. 

“I was planning on heading to the station at some point, see about maybe getting my job back now I’m not dying, and, the sooner I get earning the better.” Noah said and Derek glanced at him. 

“You don’t need to worry about money Noah, I have the money to look after the entire pack, you don’t have to rush back to work if you’re not ready?” Derek said. 

“It’s not that we need the money, I know you could help with that, but, it’s the principle of the thing, I loved my job, I still do, I just, I guess it would feel good to get back to work, back to a routine, but, Stiles, if you want me to wait, wait until we’ve figured everything out, then I will do, I’d be happy to stay with you until we find a way to free you from this ritual.” 

“Don’t be stupid, we’ve no idea where to even start, it could take months, no, years, before we find a way to reverse it, if we ever do. You can’t put your life on hold for me, none of you can. It’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, in fact,” Stiles headed in to the living room and picked up one of the books there, “I’m going to read this, maybe it’ll have something helpful in it, so, you guys, just, um, do what you do. If that’s okay, I mean?” He said looking to Derek who nodded. 

“Sure, of course it is.” Derek replied, looking to Peter and Noah who both looked nervous but agreed. “I’ve got to finish a set of plans by the end of the week so I’m going to be in my office, just, knock if you need me?” He looked to Stiles who glanced at the floor and nodded silently. 

“I’m going to head in to the station, maybe have a chat with the current Sheriff, god, I don’t even know who it is.” Noah muttered, running a hand over his mouth in agitation. 

“Deputy Moore stepped up to fill in for you, he’s always insisted it was only temporary until you returned, I think he’ll be glad to see you back.” Peter informed him, “I’ve got to head in to town to pick up some bits for a project I’m working on, would you like a lift?” 

“That’d be great.” Noah moved to the door and grabbed his jacket, “You sure you’re going to be okay kiddo?” 

“I’ll be fine. See you later.” Stiles said, waiting until the three of them left the room and letting out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with them, he did, he’d missed them all so much that all he wanted was to hug them until they couldn’t breathe, except, he didn’t know how to be around people, he didn’t know how to do this, how to be around them, knowing they’d never looked for him, knowing he mattered so little to them. Yes, Derek was making an effort now, but it was only because of the guilt they felt, it wasn’t because he cared about Stiles, it wasn’t because any of them cared about him, okay, yeah, his dad had been in a coma, so, of course he didn’t blame his dad, but, still, he’d been alone, surrounded by people who only hurt him, for so long. He didn’t know how to get back to normal, he wasn’t even sure he knew what normal was.

He grabbed the nearest book and headed up to his room, he had no intention of reading the book, he wasn’t even sure what it was about, instead, he shut the door behind him, staring around at the room before settling on the window seat and conjuring up a laptop, he wasn’t sure where to start but, there had to be some way to free him, it wasn’t that Derek was a bad master to have, but, he didn’t want to have to answer to anyone, he didn’t want to be bound to anyone, not like this. 

“Stiles?” Derek knocked quietly on Stiles’ bedroom door, he hadn’t seen or heard from Stiles all day, he didn’t want to intrude, but he wanted to know that Stiles was okay. 

“Hey.” Stiles replied, stepping out of his room and shutting the door quickly behind him. “What’s up?” 

“Nothing, um, I was just about to head out and pick Sam up from school, I know he said about wanting you there, I wondered if you wanted to come?” Derek asked, Stiles glanced back at his door before nodding decisively. 

“Yeah, sure, I’m ready when you are.” Stiles said, moving away from his room towards the stairs, clenching and unclenching his fists a few times to try and distract him from all the thoughts running a thousand miles an hour through his mind as he followed Derek out to the car and drove to the school to pick Sam up. 

“Stiles!” Sam called excitedly as soon as he left the school gates, running straight past Derek and jumping into Stiles’ arms, “You came! I told these guys in class that you saved my life, but they didn’t believe me, they made fun of me and then pushed me over, could you like go do some magic on them or something?” Sam begged and Stiles laughed, hugging him for a moment before lowering him back to the ground. 

“You know we need to keep magic a secret, and besides, we don’t need magic to scare them, Derek’s here and he’s way scarier.” Stiles replied conspiratorially, glancing at Derek who looked like he was going to tear the other boys apart. 

“Are you hurt?” Derek asked, almost growling with anger and glaring at the boys who were now exiting the gates and pointing at Sam, smirks of amusement on their features. 

“I’m fine.” Sam said dismissively and Stiles looked at him, studying what looked to be a bruise beginning to form on his cheek, her reached out and touched his fingertips to Sam’s cheek, healing him instantly and feeling his magic sparking at the tips of his fingers, declaring that he protect Sam, that he teach these boys a lesson, that they never hurt Sam again. 

“Sam, get in the car. I’m going to talk to those little bastards.” Derek snapped and Stiles reached out and touched Derek’s arm. 

“Maybe you should let me?” Stiles whispered and Derek glanced at him. 

“I’m calm, I can handle it.”

“I know you can.” Stiles agreed, “Just, um, if you accidently shift…”

“I’m not going to shift in front of some stupid kids, even if they hit Sam, even if they shoved him over...” Derek began, getting more annoyed as he spoke until his eyes flashed red and Stiles bit his bottom lip quietly. “Fine, we’ll wait in the car.” Derek replied with a sigh of frustration, Sam looked at the pair of them and followed after Derek while Stiles moved towards the boys who were still walking across the car park. 

“Hey.” Stiles said, staring at the five boys who were obviously assessing him, “I’m Stiles, Sam’s friend.” He introduced himself and the five of them looked at him with wide eyes, “He says you shoved him over,” One of the boys opened his mouth to reply and Stiles held up a finger and they all fell silent, “I don’t care why you did it, what I care about is making sure it never happens again, so, let me make this clear, I don’t care if you like him or don’t, I don’t care if you get on with him or don’t get on with him, if you ever lay a finger on him again, I will make you pay, understand me?” He said with a smile and they all nodded at him in unison, their mouths hanging open in shock. “Good. See you around boys.” Stiles said, wandering back towards the car. 

“Did you really use magic to save his life?” One of them called out and Stiles grinned, turning around to look at them and allowing his eyes to spark gold for the briefest second but he knew they’d seen it. 

“Magic isn’t real.” He said with a smirk as he climbed back in to the car, leaving the boys stunned in the car park, and climbing into the car with Derek and Sam who were both staring at him with awe. 

“That was awesome!” Sam crowed and Stiles grinned at him before looking to Derek sheepishly. 

“If they tell anyone I’ll tell them it was a trick of the light.” He muttered and Derek laughed brightly, still looking at the road instead of Stiles. 

“Sure thing, not that anyone will believe them anyway. I didn’t know you could get your eyes to shift like that?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged casually. 

“I can do a lot that you don’t know about, it’s not like I’ve shown you everything I’m capable of doing.” He said dismissively, Derek had never been more curious in his life, god, he wanted Stiles to show him everything, wanted to sit and watch him for hours and see him do whatever he wanted to. 

“Can you make unicorns!?” Sam asked excitedly and Stiles laughed. 

“Not that I know of.” Stiles said, closing his eyes for a moment and then opening his clenched fist to reveal a small wooden unicorn, “Or not a real one anyway, is this one okay?” He offered it to Sam who grinned. 

“What about dragons?” Sam smiled cheekily and Stiles rolled his eyes before producing a small wooden dragon that flapped its wings gently, Sam stared at it in awe and Stiles and Derek both shared a small smile. 

“We need to make a stop before we head home, is that okay?” Derek asked and both Stiles and Sam looked at him in curiosity before nodding. Derek had called that morning, asking if the jeep was available and the mechanic had said that if Derek could wait until that afternoon, he would get it out of storage and give it a clean off before they came to pick it up. Derek had been so excited, he hoped Stiles would be as excited as he was, he’d told Noah about it and Noah had smiled so happily that Derek couldn’t help but hope he was doing the right thing, he was nervous, in case Stiles didn’t like it, or was annoyed at him for keeping the car. All he knew was that there was no turning back now. 

They pulled up at the garage and Derek asked them to wait in the car for a minute and he’d be back, he could see that both Stiles and Sam had lost interest in what was going on when it meant that they weren’t stopping somewhere for food and Derek smiled to himself as he headed in to the garage. 

The jeep looked amazing, Derek wasn’t completely certain that Stiles would even recognize it, he barely did and that was when he knew what it was, the paint was shining, the windows gleaming, it started on the first try and sounded better than Derek had ever heard, except, when he slid into the driver’s seat, it was still blatantly Stiles’, it still had the keyring hung from the rear view mirror, a picture of Scott and Stiles when they were younger, and, there was a dark stain on the passenger seat while – although the mechanic had obviously tried to remove it – was evidence of the time Derek had bled all over the seat after Kate shot him. When he pulled the visor down, he found another photo stuck to it, this one of the pack, or what had been the pack before Stiles had been taken, Derek, Scott, Isaac, Erica and Boyd. None of them seemed to realise the photo was being taken, instead they looked to be arguing about something, Derek guessed it was one of the few times they’d all been in a room together at the beginning. Stiles had scrawled over the top of the photo, ‘show them what family means’, and Derek felt his breath catch, even then Stiles had more knowledge about what a pack meant than any of them, he wished he’d realised, he wished he’d kept Stiles safe. 

He handed the mechanic a bonus, thanking him repeatedly, before pulling out of the garage and on to the forecourt. He climbed out uncertainly, looking to his own car, and waiting to see Stiles’ reaction. Stiles didn’t realise at first, he was talking to Sam about something and then he turned and saw Derek walking towards them, he looked at him in puzzlement before his gaze shifted to the vehicle behind Derek, his mouth dropping open in shock. Stiles opened the door and climbed out, his gaze never leaving the jeep, walking towards it cautiously as if expecting it to spontaneously combust. 

“Is this a joke?” Stiles whispered and Derek held up the keys for him. 

“I stole it off the drive when the house was being sold.” Derek said, handing the keys across to Stiles. 

“What is it?” Sam asked quietly and Stiles took a step forwards, reaching out and touching the hood reverently. 

“It’s my jeep…it’s…this is…this is real, right? It’s mine?” Stiles asked and Derek grinned. 

“Yeah, of course it is. The guy had to put some serious man hours in to fix the engine, he said it was more duct tape than anything else, but, yeah, it’s yours.” Derek smiled. Stiles ran his hands over the paint work, moving to the driver’s door and climbing in, settling in to the seat and resting his hands on the steering wheel, letting out a sigh of contentment. 

“I never thought I’d see this again.” He muttered. 

“Yeah, well, I wanted to keep it safe for you.” Derek explained. 

“Thank you.” Stiles said, “God, thank you so much.” He said in excitement, throwing himself out of the jeep and hugging Derek tightly, Derek hadn’t expected it and he froze for a second and then Stiles was pulling away from him, moving back to the jeep and Derek wanted to kick himself, wishing he’d been able to hug Stiles back even for that brief second, “Sorry, sorry, just, god, I can’t believe you kept her.” Stiles grinned, climbing back in to the seat, “I’ll meet you back at the house?” He said. 

“I’m coming with you!” Sam said excitedly, climbing into the passenger seat and putting on his seat belt. 

“We’ll see you there.” Stiles said, shutting the door and pulling out of the car park, Derek walked back to his car with a wide grin on his lips, getting in and following after Stiles who seemed to be finding out exactly how fast his repaired jeep could go. 

When they arrived back at the house the rest of the pack were already there, gathering around Stiles’ jeep and examining her excitedly, Stiles sat at the steering wheel as if in a haze before climbing out and grinning at Derek. 

“Thanks dude, honestly, just, thanks.” Stiles said and Derek shrugged casually. 

“It’s only so I don’t have to run you around everywhere.” He replied lightly and Stiles laughed brightly – a sound that Derek had wondered if he’d ever get to hear again - glancing back at his jeep every few seconds as they headed in to the house.

Thankfully Noah had been able to get his job back without any trouble, there was going to be transitionary period, so he’d start going back in for a few hours at a time, getting caught up on everything that had happened in his absence, but, the main thing had been that everyone was so relieved to have him back in the station, it was like a second home to him and his deputies had been like a second family, they were what had gotten Noah through Claudia’s illness, taking it in turns to look after Stiles when Noah had to go out on a job, and they’d all been devastated when Claudia had attacked Stiles, when she died, they’d all visited Stiles at one point or another, at least until he was out of the hospital and getting back into mischief, then Stiles tended to be the one visiting them at the station.


	7. Chapter 7

Stiles settled into a sort of routine over the next week, he would spend his days shut in his bedroom, researching and trying to find out everything he could about magic and about the ritual, Derek would knock on his door when it was time to go pick Sam up and the two of them would go together, usually in Stiles’ jeep but occasionally in Derek’s car. Then he’d spend a few hours with Sam and the pack, Sam loved his stories because Stiles used his magic to create outlines of people and places in the air above them and Sam got to watch it all play out, he usually fell asleep to the sound of Stiles’ voice and Derek would carry him up to bed. Derek would do his best to pretend he hadn’t watched Stiles’ features light up with excitement and joy as Sam lapped up every word he said, he knew the pack were well aware of just how awestruck Derek was by every little thing Stiles did, but, he hoped Stiles didn’t realise, Derek didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. 

In the evenings, after the pack had spent a few hours researching what they could to try and help him, Stiles would head up to bed, he’d tend to sleep for an hour or two, on the one occasion he even got a solid four hours, before he would wake screaming from his nightmares, drenched in sweat and tears running down his cheeks, his chest heaving as he tried to calm himself down. Then he’d start researching again, at least until he deemed it an acceptable time to grab a shower and wash the stench of sweat and terror from himself, he’d take his clothes into the bathroom with him, making sure that nobody had a chance of seeing him without his shirt on, have a shower and then get dressed before heading downstairs, having breakfast and talking to Sam for a little while before Derek took him to school, then Stiles would head back upstairs to research again. 

The great news was that, by researching so much, Stiles knew more about how magic worked now, he knew that he didn’t have an unlimited amount of magic, he might have more than some other casters, or most other casters if he was being completely honest, but, he did have his limits. If he used too much magic, he would be exhausted, and, healing others would take more out of him than other magic he used. He figured that was why he’d been so exhausted after healing his dad, because not only had he used a huge amount of magic to bring his dad back from the brink of death, he’d also only just come into his magic. 

From what he’d read, and, as he understood it, he would have been born with his magic – he didn’t have to inherit it from a parent, some people were just born with magic, there was no way to predict who would have it or not, but, it wouldn’t have come into use until he reached around his tenth birthday, although there were several mentions of it being delayed if the caster suffered trauma at a young age. Stiles hated that fact. He hated that he’d been born with this magic and that he hadn’t been able to save his mom, that if she’d held on a few more years, he would have had his magic and he would have been able to heal her. He hated that even in that, he had managed to fail her, no wonder she’d wanted him dead, she’d probably known exactly what Stiles was, a monster, a monster who would allow her to die when he had the ability to save her, even if he hadn’t known it at the time. He should have tried harder. He was a failure in every aspect. 

Instead, Stiles hadn’t come into his magic until the night Gerard had kidnapped him, but, because he was so useless, it hadn’t appeared when he could have used it to defend Erica, Boyd and himself from Gerard and his goons, it hadn’t even appeared when he was on his knees on his own front lawn, about to be executed for protecting the pack, no, his magic hadn’t protected him then, hadn’t even protected his father. No, he was so useless that his magic hadn’t appeared until his dad had already been shot, until his father was bleeding out right in front of him and Stiles was terrified of losing his father, losing the only parent he had left, his magic had appeared, burning hot and white and blasting out of him in order to heal his father, he barely even felt his own wound, maybe it was the shock, maybe it was his magic, he didn’t know, but, the wound that went straight through his chest felt like nothing, all that mattered was saving his father. He’d been able to do that, at least to some extent, his dads heart had still been beating when Gerard and his men had dragged Stiles off his father and threw him in the back of their van, Stiles hadn’t made it to the end of the block before he was beaten unconscious and after that, as he’d said to Derek, Peter and his dad, everything was a blur of pain and fear until weeks later when Kate was already his master. 

The information he’d found explained that his magic drained some of his energy, so, if he was already tired then he wouldn’t be able to do the same amount of magic as if he had had a decent night’s sleep. Stiles wondered vaguely how much extra power he’d have if he actually slept for a solid eight hours at night, but, he didn’t know how to do that, every night without fail he would wake up screaming from his nightmares, the only consolation he had was that his bedroom was soundproofed and, so far, nobody else had been disturbed by his screaming. In fact, his bedroom seemed to be the one place where nobody went, obviously they wanted to offer him his privacy, allow him his own space, that if Stiles went to his room they left him alone until he came back down, Stiles really appreciated it. 

Sam seemed to have grown incredibly attached to Stiles in such a short space of time, Stiles didn’t mind though, having Sam constantly around, asking questions about his magic, or wanting Stiles to read him a story or help with his homework or any other thousands of reasons that he could stick near to Stiles. Stiles didn’t know how to deal with it, on the one hand he enjoyed spending time with Sam, but, he wasn’t sure how to be around people, not anymore, he was terrified of messing things up, of upsetting Sam by saying or doing the wrong thing. He wished he had the slightest clue what he was doing, how to become somebody that the others wouldn’t get bored of, wouldn’t find annoying or irritating. 

When his dad mentioned returning to school Stiles honestly didn’t expect it. He was barely functioning as it was, he was only just beginning to find out all the things his magic could do, and he was still trying to find a way to release himself from Derek’s control, not that Derek had given him any orders, in fact, Derek seemed so awkward around him that he barely spoke. Admittedly, the Derek that Stiles knew hadn’t exactly been a great conversationalist, but, he’d seen Derek with everyone else in the pack and Derek seemed to be able to speak to them just fine, it was only Stiles that he seemed unable to have an actual conversation with. Derek would start a sentence and then trail off, looking like he was kicking himself internally before clenching his jaw and sitting in silence while Stiles did his best not to make things more uncomfortable by rambling which he knew would annoy Derek.

If Stiles was being completely honest with himself, he was scared and confused and wished he could just go back to being an innocent kid, before his mom got ill, that he could cuddle up on her lap and get her to tell him it was all going to be okay, but he didn’t get that, which was his fault. Instead he woke up by himself, a hoarse scream being torn from his throat, his entire body drenched in sweat and tears streaming down his cheeks, his whole body aching from how tense he had been during his nightmare. He couldn’t help but think that he somehow deserved this. 

The thought of going back to school terrified him, the thought of being trapped in a small room with people who would probably all look at him like he was weird, they’d ask him questions about where he’d been for the past year, and, god, the thought of having to get changed in the locker rooms for gym, god, no, what if someone saw him? He couldn’t do it, he just, he couldn’t. He looked up at his dad, saw the hopefulness in his dads features, and Stiles crumbled. He’d done so much wrong in his life, he didn’t want to upset his dad, didn’t want to hurt him, he would just have to go back to school, find a way to make this work for his dad’s sake. 

“Sure.” Stiles said quietly even though his ears were ringing and he felt queasy, oblivious to the way the rest of the pack were grinning and smiling and looking relieved that Stiles was willing to give it a go. 

“Great, I told the school that you’d be starting back on Monday but that you’d probably need to catch up a bit as you had been taught by your aunt for the past year and there’s likely things on the syllabus that you don’t know. Is that ok?” Noah asked and Stiles nodded numbly. 

“Sure.” He repeated, not telling his dad that anything he didn’t know he could use magic to find out, one way or another. 

“This is so exciting dude, loads of people have been asking about you, trying to find out when you were coming back now that your dad is out of hospital and everything. I’ve missed having you in class too, it’ll be awesome having you back, and Coach will be so excited to have you back on the team, except you’re not allowed to use magic to cheat, just like we’re not allowed to use our wolf powers.” Scott said excitedly, Stiles tried to grin at him but it felt strained. 

“I’m just…I need to…I’m going to go to my room for a bit.” Stiles said, exiting the room as quickly as he could and practically running to his room, shutting the door behind him and sliding down the door to the floor, holding his head in his hands as he tried not to have a complete breakdown. 

Monday came around much too quickly in Stiles’ opinion, he would have happily left town if he could have done it without having to go and speak to Derek first, without having to tell him why he wanted to leave, it would mean admitting that he was terrified, scared of messing things up, scared of letting everyone down, and, what he knew was incredibly selfish and pathetic to even think about, he was terrified of people seeing his scars. He hated the fact he was under orders, deep down he knew Derek was trying to look out for him, trying to make sure he didn’t do something stupid, but, god, he hated that he had to ask anyone for anything. He wanted to be free to make his own decisions, even if they tended to err on the side of stupidity a lot of the time.

He knew the pack weren’t really aware of half the damage that Kate, Gerard and the others had done to his body, he guessed Erica and Boyd probably had some idea, considering they’d been in the basement when Gerard tortured him, but, maybe they’d forgotten, maybe they thought that because Stiles had magic now that he’d been able to heal his scars. He hadn’t. He could heal wounds using magic and most of the time they never left a mark, but, if Kate ordered him to heal just enough that it didn’t kill him but that it would still scar, well, he had to comply to her orders and Kate…she enjoyed leaving her marks, repeatedly, continuously, Stiles’ torso was covered with her handiwork and he dreaded anyone seeing them. She had ordered him to never heal completely unless instructed otherwise and he couldn’t exactly tell Derek to take that particular order away without revealing just how many scars he had. It was better that none of them knew.

He jumped in the jeep with Erica, Boyd and Sam, dropping Sam off at school before they continued on to their own school, Stiles was so nervous he thought he was going to puke but he did his best to keep it under control, he didn’t want the pack to realise just how much he was freaking out right now. The school came into view and Stiles stared at it in silence, it looked exactly the same, there was no reason for it to have changed, Stiles knew that, but, still, he’d changed so much since the last time he was here, he kind of thought that the school should reflect that somehow, but, it didn’t. He could still see the corner of the lacrosse pitch from here and he shuddered at the memories it brought back, how he’d been dragged off the pitch by Gerard’s men, how everything that had followed had only been pain and fear, it was all he’d known for the past year and now he was expected to go back to normal and he didn’t know how. 

“You doing okay batman?” Erica asked from the passenger seat and Stiles nodded, feeling terrified but refusing to allow any of them to know it, he was not going to fail at this, he was not going to fall apart before he’d even gotten through the front door. 

He didn’t know what was going on with Erica and Boyd, they hovered close to him all the time, constantly within touching distance whenever he was in a room, Erica rubbed her head against his shoulder sometimes and he’d caught Boyd inhaling his scent on more than a few occasions. He wasn’t sure why they did it, especially when nobody else seemed to do it that much, but he was worried if he brought it up, they would stop. He wasn’t sure why they did it, but he did know it was kind of comforting, it sort of put him at ease a little bit, and he didn’t want them to stop, so, he wasn’t going to bring it up.

“Sure, let’s do this.” Stiles said, climbing out of the jeep and registering the rest of the pack moving out of their own cars and towards the main entrance, glancing back to look at Stiles and hesitating, as if waiting for him before they went in to the building. 

“Stiles?” Somebody called out in confusion and Stiles turned to look at the person speaking, freezing for a moment when he realised it was Danny. “Hey man, Jackson didn’t tell me you were starting back. When did you get back to town?” Danny asked, walking side by side with Stiles as they headed in to the school. 

“Um, just, erm, recently?” Stiles muttered quietly and Danny nodded. 

“Well, you look good, the time away has been good to you.” Danny said and Stiles laughed self-depreciatingly, he looked like shit, okay, maybe he’d grown a bit taller in his time away, and he’d regained the weight he’d lost now he was allowed to eat when he wanted, but he was still pale and lanky and a complete freak. “I’m serious. You look good.” Danny pressed and Stiles glanced down at the floor, unsure how to respond. 

“Thanks.” He muttered quietly, fighting the blush on his cheeks, “So, um, what’s been going on since I left town?” He asked and Danny grinned. 

“You’re kidding? Scott hasn’t given you all the low down already?” Danny teased, knocking their shoulders together and Stiles shrugged casually. 

“You know Scott doesn’t pay much attention to anything that doesn’t start with the words ‘Allison Argent’.” Stiles replied jokingly and Danny laughed brightly, Scott appeared at Stiles’ side looking like a kicked puppy and Stiles felt guilt flood through him. “Sorry, I was, um, I was just joking.” He muttered in horror, terrified that he’d fucked things up before they’d made it to their first class, especially as Danny was looking at him in confusion, as if unable to understand why Stiles was apologising. 

“Yeah, dude, we know that.” Isaac said from behind Scott, “Don’t worry Stiles, Scott knows it’s true too.” He teased and Scott huffed. 

“It is not. I mean, it’s not anymore. I guess it was once, but, not anymore.” Scott pouted and the entire pack seemed to cackle with laughter. “You guys suck.” Scott huffed before putting his arm around Allison’s shoulder as she grinned at him. 

“What classes are you in Stiles?” Lydia asked and Stiles winced when the attention returned to him, he really just wanted to keep his head down and get through the day. 

“I need to go to the office and get my schedule.” He replied and Lydia nodded. 

“You want a hand?” Cora offered and Stiles shook his head. 

“I can remember where it is, thanks.” He replied, moving away from the pack towards the office, glad when he left their eyesight so he could take a second just to take a breath and steady himself for what was no doubt going to be a long day.

He managed to get through his first few classes without many issues, he noticed there were a few odd looks in his direction but he tried to ignore them as best he could, he knew it was only because he hadn’t been around for a while, he prayed that the stares would die down within a few days. By lunchtime he was very aware that the stares only seemed to be increasing, and, when people looked at him, a moment later they would turn to their friends, sniggering about something while others looked down right horrified. Stiles didn’t know what was being said, he wasn’t sure he wanted to, he really wanted to use his magic to make himself invisible right now, to just slip out of the cafeteria unnoticed, find somewhere to hide and never have to speak to anyone again. It was ironic how a year ago he would have done anything to have people paying this much attention to him, to have everyone know his name, now he’d be happy if none of them even knew he existed.

Instead he tried to concentrate on how much his dad wanted him back at school, how much his dad wanted him to succeed, he slid his tray along the line, grabbing at random food despite the fact his stomach was twisting so uncomfortably that he didn’t think he could eat a bite, before he headed towards the table where most of the pack were sat, looking gratefully at Cora when she slid along to make room for Stiles and she shot him a grin. 

“How was your morning?” Lydia asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“Like I’ve never been away.” He replied as casually as he could, maybe if he faked it for long enough, he could trick himself into believing that everything was okay. He was about to ask the others about their mornings when every wolf’s head all turned in one direction, staring at a boy who was approaching the table confidently, looking at Stiles appraisingly before glancing back at his friends who all nodded and waved him onwards. 

“Stiles, right?” The boy said and Stiles pursed his lips and looked at him. 

“And you are?” He asked. 

“My name’s Theo, you don’t know me, I didn’t come to Beacon Hills until about five months ago, long after you left.” Theo explained.

“Okay.” Stiles shrugged, turning back to look at Scott who was glaring at Theo angrily, his eyes flashing gold for the briefest second, Stiles was startled but Theo didn’t seem bothered, Stiles figured that meant he hadn’t noticed or he was already in the know. The tension in the rest of the pack told him it was the latter. “So, friend or foe?” Stiles asked and Theo shrugged, smirking widely. 

“I’m not pack if that’s what you mean. Doesn’t mean that the two of us have to be enemies, in fact, I’d very much like to get to know you better. I’m very curious about you.” Theo replied quietly and Stiles rolled his eyes, losing interest in the conversation rapidly. 

“Right, got it.” Stiles said, grabbing his fork and turning towards his meal. 

“So, everybody is talking about you, telling me all about how your dad got shot last year and you’ve been missing ever since.” 

“I was staying with my aunt.” Stiles replied coldly. 

“Right, so I’ve been told.” Theo grinned, “But, you know, people have also been talking about how you didn’t come straight back to town once your dad woke up, you know how rumours start, you left town when your dad got shot, you didn’t come back the instant he woke up, the people closest to you have been in and out of town the past few weeks, obviously stressed. It kind of makes me wonder if maybe you weren’t actually staying with your aunt.” 

“You’ll just have to keep wondering then.” Stiles said, Theo clenched his jaw for a moment before he looked around the cafeteria, seeing there were several people already staring at them. 

“Well,” Theo began, raising his voice and drawing even more attention to them, Stiles glared at Theo, wishing the ground could just swallow him up, he really didn’t want to be here right now, “One of the deputy’s at the station told me that you weren’t staying with your aunt, in fact, you’ve never even met your aunt, since she’s back in Poland, your dad hasn’t spoken to her since she murdered their mom.” He paused, smirking slightly, “Guess that must be something that runs in your family, since, you know, from what I’ve heard, your mom died while she was trying to kill you, guess that was kind of your fault too.” 

“Fuck off Theo!” Scott snarled, getting to his feet and glaring at Theo angrily. 

“What’s the problem? I mean, it’s all true. His mom died while she was trying to kill him, he obviously had something to do with it. Then his dad gets shot and he goes missing for a year. He goes and lives with his aunt who murdered his grandma. And you expect everyone here to welcome him back with open arms!? He’s obviously crazy. He murdered his mom and tried to murder his dad. It’s obvious. He probably planned it with his batshit crazy aunt.” 

“That’s bullshit!” Scott shouted. “Stiles didn’t kill his mom and he didn’t shoot his dad and he hasn’t been living with his psycho aunt!” Scott snapped in anger and Theo smirked victoriously. 

“Oh? So where were you then Stiles? If you weren’t living with your aunt? I mean, because the other rumour going around is that something happened to you. That someone else shot your dad and then took you. That you’ve been held prisoner for the past year. That you were so pathetic you didn’t even try to escape. That your friends had to come rescue you. Is that what really happened? Is that why you look so terrified all the time?” Theo mocked, slamming his hands into the table and Stiles flinched at the noise, grimacing when he realised that everybody had seen it. Stiles clenched his hands into fists, willing his magic to calm down, to not spark in outrage and to not squeeze Theo into nothingness. Instead he stood up, squaring up to Theo, surprised to find that he was actually an inch taller than the wolf and the smirk on Theo’s face fell slightly. 

“I don’t have to tell you anything, now fuck off before I make you.” Stiles snarled dangerously and Theo laughed mockingly. 

“Really? You honestly think you could make me do anything I don’t want to?” He said, poking Stiles’ chest, “You’re not nearly as interesting as I thought you might be, just a scared little kid playing at being more than you are.” 

“Touch me again and you’ll find out exactly how interesting I can be.” Stiles replied coldly and Theo’s smirk faltered for the briefest second before he moved forwards, squaring up to him, almost testing Stiles. 

“Why? What can you do about it, huh?” Theo said as he poked Stiles in the chest again. Jackson moved forwards, ready to defend Stiles, when suddenly Stiles grabbed Theo’s wrist, yanked his arm behind his back and slammed him face first in to the table. 

“I told you not to touch me.” Stiles said, using his magic to ensure Theo couldn’t break free of the grip. Stiles wasn’t afraid to use more force than necessary, Theo was a werewolf, he’d heal. A moment later, Theo stilled in place, realising he couldn’t escape, aware that it wasn’t just Stiles’ strength that was holding him in place, Theo should have been able to break free of the human’s grip easily, “Now,” Stiles said, releasing his hold on Theo and letting the boy stand up straight, Theo’s face flushing red in anger, “Like I said before, fuck off before I make you.” Stiles snapped and Theo glared at him for a moment before turning on his heel and storming out of the cafeteria, still holding tight to his wrist where Stiles had twisted it viciously. 

“That was awesome!” Isaac said excitedly and Stiles flushed before sinking back into his seat and picking at his food, hoping that if he didn’t look up the rest of the room would go back to what they were doing before Theo had approached. 

“Who was he?” Stiles muttered to Cora a minute later and Cora shrugged. 

“He moved to town about six months ago, he said he didn’t want to cause any trouble, just looking for somewhere to settle down. He’s not pack; he’s not a friend, but, we haven’t exactly been enemies either. Mostly he just keeps to himself, stays out of our way. He’s never done anything like that before.” She replied and Stiles grimaced, he really just wanted to be left alone, to keep his head down and go back to the way things were before he was taken by Gerard, where he was basically invisible to the majority of the school. 

“We’ll tell Derek when we get home. He’ll go and speak to Theo, tell him to behave or get out of town.” Erica said and Stiles shook his head. 

“It doesn’t matter. Everyone knows the truth now anyway. Theo vanishing mysteriously will just fuel the rumours that I’m a murderer.” Stiles said calmly, “Besides, it’s not like he didn’t say anything that everybody else wasn’t already thinking, the rumours were there, the truth would have come out eventually.” 

“That doesn’t give him the right to say that rubbish.” Allison replied. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Stiles said, shuffling his food around on his plate, his appetite long since gone. “I need to go grab some more books before class, so, um, I’ll catch you guys in a bit.” Stiles said, shoving his tray away and standing up from the table, already heading to the library, without looking back at the pack.

The mutterings only got worse throughout the afternoon, by last period Stiles didn’t even look up from his book, he could hear everyone talking about him, talking about the fact he’d been kidnapped, held prisoner for over a year, a few braver students had approached him and attempted to ask him if it was true, Stiles had glared at them until they walked away without Stiles having to say a single word. 

The only bright side was that when he left for the day he walked out of the school, aware of the stares in his direction, he saw Derek and Sam waiting in the car park. The second Sam saw him he raced forwards, flinging himself into Stiles’ arms and hugging him tightly. 

“Hey buddy, what’s going on? You okay?” Stiles asked in confusion, surprised to see Sam here, he looked across at Derek who shrugged.

“I missed you.” Sam muttered. 

“Weren’t you in school all day?” Stiles replied good naturedly. 

“It doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you.” Sam grumbled and Stiles laughed picking him up and spinning him around childishly. 

“I missed you too bud, come on, let’s go home.” Stiles said, taking Sam’s hand and leading him towards the jeep. 

“How was your first day at school?” Derek asked distractedly, instead picking up on the chatter surrounding them. He’d only been here a matter of minutes before Stiles had left the school, it had been plenty of time for him to hear the mutterings that something had happened at lunchtime involving Stiles, they were also talking about the fact Stiles’ aunt had killed his grandmother, that his mom had tried to kill him when he was younger and that somebody had shot his dad and kidnapped him for a year. Asking Stiles how his day had gone was idiotic, but Derek was used to that by now, every time he spoke to Stiles he wanted to kick himself, he sounded so stupid, every conversation was stilted and made him grimace with humiliation, he expected Stiles to fill the silence, ramble the way he usually did, instead there was just an awkward silence and Derek didn’t know how to fix it, how to make them go back to the way they used to be. 

“It was fine.” Stiles replied casually, although his voice sounded strained and Derek noticed the tension in his shoulders, Stiles might not be saying it, but it was obvious to Derek that he hadn’t had a good day. Derek handed his keys across to Boyd who looked surprised but didn’t comment when Derek nodded his head in the direction of the jeep, he was obviously going to get in with Stiles and Sam, “Anyway kid, tell me about your day, what did you get up to?” 

“Well, I learned about some war that happened ages ago and I showed Tyler the dragon that you made me and he thinks it’s awesome, I told him that he’s not allowed to tell anyone else about you having magic though and he promised he wouldn’t.” Sam said and Stiles nodded slowly, not sure if he should be worried about this Tyler.

“I’m sure he won’t.” Derek said, smiling fondly at Sam who nodded in agreement.

“No he won’t, Tyler’s amazing Stiles, he has this weird scar on his arm and I asked him about it and he said he got in a car crash when he was little and his dad died so now he lives with just his mom, and I told him that my mom and dad are both gone but that you and Derek both understand because you’ve both lost parents too so you know how it feels, and then Liam overheard us talking about you and he said his brother told him that you were kidnapped and some crazy person hurt you a lot…” Sam rambled and Stiles felt like he was going to be sick, did everybody know already? He knew it couldn’t be helped, but, god, the story had already reached Sam’s school. 

“Stiles? You okay?” Isaac asked and Stiles nodded, moving towards the cars and ignoring the way everyone was staring at him. 

“…So I told Liam that you are awesome, that you saved my life, that the person who had you was horrible and that she killed my mom and dad but you managed to help me escape even though it meant that you’d get hurt. Liam didn’t know what to say and Tyler told him to go away if he wasn’t going to be nice to me but Liam said he would be nice to me because you kind of scare him and he doesn’t want to get on your bad side...” Sam laughed happily, unaware of Stiles’ impending breakdown, Stiles nodded numbly, he wasn’t sure he was even taking in what Sam was saying, all he could think about was that everyone knew, everyone knew what a freak he was, what a monster he was. 

“Stiles, take a breath, it’s okay.” Derek said and Stiles blinked, unsure when Derek had moved, why he was now standing in front of Stiles and looking worried, everything seemed too loud and muffled all at once, Stiles could hear his heart racing in his chest, hear his uncomfortable breaths as his lungs struggled to take in air that wasn’t there, he could hear the sound of laughter bright and loud across the car park, he wasn’t sure if it was directed at him because he couldn’t get his gaze to focus, he knew he was having a panic attack but knowing didn’t help. “Stiles! Take a deep breath!” Derek ordered and Stiles felt his magic respond accordingly, forcing him to take a deep breath. “Good. Again.” Derek said, relaxing as Stiles managed to get his breathing back under control. 

“You okay dude?” Scott asked and Stiles nodded, glaring at the ground so they wouldn’t see the tears forming in his eyes. 

“Let’s go home, we can talk there.” Derek said and Stiles shuffled forwards, not looking at any of them, shooting Sam a small smile when he pressed his hand against Stiles’ clenched fist and Stiles grabbed his hand softly. 

“I’m okay.” He muttered in reassurance and Sam nodded. 

“Of course you are.” He said so matter of factly that Stiles was actually taken aback by it slightly. Stiles knew that his panic attack wouldn’t have gone unnoticed and the thought of going back in to school tomorrow made him want to throw up, but, he had to, for his dad’s sake, he needed to do this. He just needed to be better at it. Better at everything. 

The drive home was quiet, Stiles stared out of the window while Derek drove, Stiles in the passenger seat and Erica, Allison and Sam squished in the back seat, he was lost in thought, he hated that he was weak, so broken, he hated everyone seeing him like that. He just wanted to be left alone, all he could think about was going in to the preserve, losing himself in the wildness of it, the tall branches blocking out the sun so he could lose track of time, just, anything to forget about all the failure and fear he felt on an hourly basis.

As soon as they got back to the house Stiles headed inside and straight up to his room, ignoring the looks he knew he was getting from the rest of the pack, he couldn’t be around them right now, he just needed to be by himself. Thankfully, nobody followed him. 

It was dark by the time there was a knock on his door, Stiles glanced around his room, it was a mess, he’d spread his research over every available surface and he still hadn’t found anything that could actually help him. There was another knock and Stiles sighed heavily before moving to his door and opening it slightly, not exactly surprised to see his dad standing there. 

“Can I come in?” Noah asked quietly and Stiles took a step backwards, opening up the door and letting his dad in, he saw his dad’s eyes widen in surprise slightly and Stiles flushed in embarrassment. 

“Sorry, I just, I’ve been working on finding out more about my magic and stuff.” Stiles muttered quietly and Noah nodded before taking a deep breath. 

“I heard about what happened at school.” Noah said quietly. 

“Theo or the panic attack?” Stiles replied. 

“Both.” Noah said.

“Figures.” Stiles muttered under his breath. 

“Stiles, look, come sit down.” Noah said, sitting on the bed and motioning for Stiles to join him, “I knew today was going to be hard for you, going back in to school after everything you’ve been through in the past year, I knew it would be hard but I believed it would be the right thing for you, help you return to some semblance of normality. But I don’t want you to push yourself, if you’re not ready for this, if you want to wait, then that’s okay too.”

“It’s fine.” Stiles said quietly, “The first day is always the worst day, right?” Stiles said lightly, trying to make a joke out of it, he didn’t want his dad to worry about him, that wasn’t fair on him, Noah studied him solemnly for a moment, he knew what Stiles was doing, trying to make light of it because he didn’t want to talk about it, Noah knew it wasn’t the healthiest way to deal with things, but, god, he didn’t want to push his son. The truth was, Noah didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do, he didn’t know what was right or wrong, he hadn’t known about werewolves until recently and now he was one and dealing with that was hard enough, he didn’t know how to help Stiles. 

“Stiles, I wish I knew how to make this right. What Kate did…” Noah’s eyes flashed blue for the briefest second before he took a steadying breath and got his wolf under control, “What she did, what Gerard did, it was unforgiveable. I wish I could have killed her myself; I wish I could have dragged it out, made her beg for death. But, I didn’t. I failed you.” 

“No, no you didn’t dad. Don’t be ridiculous. You didn’t fail me. She’s dead. That’s all that matters.”

“No. Stiles. I failed you. Over and over again. From the moment your mother got ill I failed you. I wasn’t there for you. I let you shoulder all the responsibility of looking after me. I was a grown man and I was too busy drowning my sorrows to look out for my kid. Your mother almost killed you because I wasn’t there to protect you. I didn’t know about all the dangers you were throwing yourself in to with the pack and everything. I knew something was going on and I didn’t push because I was so used to you just looking after yourself, you kept things from me to make sure I didn’t have to worry about you, because you were always protecting me. And I failed you Stiles. I let that monster take you off the lacrosse pitch and he hurt you and then I ran out of the house without my gun and, god, I think about it all the time, I hear you screaming for them to let go of you, not to save yourself, to save me. And it haunts me kid. It really does. I wake up in a cold sweat convinced that you did kill yourself at your mom’s grave, or that you didn’t survive that first night, that you still died, that I’m trapped in some kind of dream and when I wake up, you’ll be dead. That all this myth and magic is just my way of trying to make sense as to how you can possibly be alive when you dived in front of a bullet to save me.” Noah’s voice cracked and Stiles reached out a hand to comfort him. 

“Dad…” 

“No, just, let me say this, please.” Noah muttered and Stiles waited for him to continue, “I don’t know what to do Stiles. I don’t know how to help you. You’ve always taken care of yourself. You’ve looked after yourself. You haven’t needed me for a long time. But, god, I need you. I love you so much kid. The thought of anything happening to you makes me feel like I can’t breathe, that the entire world would crumble if you died. And I can see you’re struggling, I see the way you flinch if someone moves too quickly, I see the way you duck your gaze to avoid challenging anyone, I see the way you apologize for every little thing, afraid that you’ll be punished because of it and I hate it. I hate it so much. You know why?” Stiles shook his head, “Because this is not the loud, brash, powerful, stubborn, defiant, intelligent, determined and force to be reckoned with person that I know you are, and I feel like a failure because I don’t know how to help you, I don’t know what to do to make you realise that you’re safe now, that we won’t ever let anyone hurt you again, that you can be yourself and it’s okay.” Noah explained and Stiles stared at his fingertips silently for a moment. 

“And if I can’t be that person again? If I don’t know how to find my way back?” Stiles said, feeling on the verge of tears, he hadn’t cried in so long, not since the day his mom died, maybe he’d cried in pain, but, real tears, tears of grief, of loss, of fear, of confusion, no, that had never happened, he hadn’t allowed it to. Hearing his dad confessing that he felt like a failure because he’d let Stiles down, it broke something inside him, he didn’t ever want his dad to feel like that, he didn’t want his dad to feel like he’d let Stiles down when that could never happen. 

“You’re strong Stiles, and, no, I don’t mean with magic. I mean you. You are the strongest person I know and when you set your mind to something, I know you can accomplish it, you’re stubborn, determined. What you’ve been through, it would be enough to kill people, it would be enough to send them insane or think there was no way back, but, you’re stronger than that Stiles, I know you are. And I know you know that too. And I’m here with you, we all are. We can help you. Just tell us how.” Noah paused, taking a steadying breath, “But, if you don’t, if you’re not the same person you were, that’s okay too, because you are still the bravest, most fantastic, loving, caring person I know, and whatever you want to do, I’ll support you. I just want to help you Stiles. I want to see you smile. I want to see you happy. I want you to know you’re safe and home and whatever comes our way we can deal with because we’ve got each other. Just tell me what I can do.” Noah pleaded. 

“What if I don’t want to be myself again?” Stiles admitted quietly. “I was myself before, and...I didn’t matter.” He could barely believe the words had left his mouth, his deepest fear, out there for his dad to know about, but his dad’s confession had made Stiles want to open up too, hoping that something, anything, would be able to change the way he was feeling.

“What!? You mattered! Of course you mattered!” Noah insisted. 

“No. I didn’t dad. I didn’t matter to anybody other than you.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. The pack all missed you…”

“They didn’t. You got shot and I went missing and they didn’t care enough to come looking for me, I doubt they even noticed I was gone, not for weeks, or months even. I was nothing to them. They didn’t miss me; they were fed up of me anyway. They didn’t call. They didn’t even think about me. I left the name Sofia so Scott would know I was in trouble and nobody came. They left me dad. And they were better off without me. They didn’t want me around. I was the problem. I was annoying and always causing issues and I couldn’t keep up with them, it wasn’t like I could run as fast as them, or smell things like them or anything else that would have made me special, anything that would have made them want me around. I wasn’t good enough and I get it, I get why they did it. I don’t want to go back to that. I mean,” Stiles felt his breath catch in his throat and tears began to fill his eyes, the words tumbling out of him before he could stop them, “I don’t want them to throw me away again when they get bored of me and I don’t want to be the person that was nothing to them, and they only want me around now because I’m bound to Derek and I have magic and stuff, if I was still plain old, annoying, boring Stiles, they wouldn’t have come for me. They had the chance and they didn’t come for me. I don’t know what to do dad. I don’t know how to be who I was before, I feel like there’s this black pit inside me and everything I touch gets broken and I’m a monster, I don’t deserve to be happy, the world would be better off without me, it’s not like I matter. Then I see you and you smile at me and tell me you love me and I can’t leave you, I can’t put you through that, not when I saw what losing mom did to you. But I’m so scared dad. I’m scared all the time. I’m scared I’m going to wake up and be back with her. I’m scared I’m going to open my eyes or look across the room and see the bodies of the people I helped to kill. I’m scared that you’ll all realise how broken and evil I am and get fed up of me. I’m scared I’m going to mess up again and I’m going to get you killed or the pack killed or you’re going to end up hating me and wish that I’d just leave you alone to get on with your life without me. I just…I’m lost dad. I’m so lost and I don’t know how to find my way back and I’m so tired. I’m tired of being scared all the time. I’m tired of never knowing if I’m doing the right thing, if by staying quiet I’m being less annoying or more annoying, if when I make stupid sarcastic comments everyone hates it and they are all fed up of me, or they think I’m serious and they get upset and that’s my fault. I’m just so tired of making a mess wherever I go. Everything just goes to shit when I’m around. I mean, look at what happened to mom…”

“That wasn’t your fault Stiles!” Noah shouted in outrage, he’d listened to Stiles, relieved his son was finally talking to him, telling him how he was feeling, ready to protest the second Stiles was finished but there was only so much he could take, he would not let his son continue blaming himself for his mom’s death.

“Yes it was!” Stiles screamed back. “I should have never gone to see her! If I hadn’t then she would have been alive and I would have had my magic when I turned ten and I could have healed her! She died because of me, it’s my fault, everything that happened was because of me! Mom died because of me. You got shot because of me. I deserved everything that happened, Kate was right, I’m nothing and the world would be better off without me!” Stiles shouted, yanking open the bedroom door and heading towards the stairs, he had no idea where he was going, he just knew he needed to get away from here, before he started crying. 

“Stiles don’t run away from me right now!” Noah said, chasing after him and grabbing Stiles’ wrist, Stiles turned to look at his dad, tears filling his eyes and looking so distraught that Noah had no idea what to do. “Your mom was sick! She was sick and she was dying and there was nothing anybody could have done about it! She wouldn’t have lived long enough for you to get your magic; you couldn’t have saved her Stiles! I’m just grateful she didn’t take you with her!” 

“She should have done. She should have just killed me, so many people would be alive now if she’d just killed me when she had the chance. She knew what I was going to be, she could see how fucking evil I was going to turn out and she tried to stop it and if I’d just died...” Stiles sobbed, tears falling against his will, staring at the floor, unable to meet his father’s gaze, Noah crouched slightly until he looked Stiles in the eyes. 

“Stiles just stop, stop it.” Noah said, staring at the tear tracks on Stiles’ cheeks, aware of the rest of the pack gathering at the bottom of the stairs and listening to their conversation in horror, “Kate was lying, she was a manipulative, evil bitch. You are not nothing Stiles. You are not a monster. You are most definitely not evil. And you matter. God, you matter so much. You have no idea, no idea how much everyone missed you…”

“They didn’t! I already told you all this. They didn’t want me, they left me…”

“Stiles just please, listen to me, god, please listen to me.” Noah said desperately, pleadingly, and Stiles swallowed loudly, holding his breath to try and stop the tears falling down his cheeks, Noah took a calming breath, trying to organise in his thoughts in to some kind of order, knowing that what he said now was of upmost importance, “I don’t even know where to start with everything you’ve just said.” Noah admitted honestly and Stiles let out a small sob, glaring at the floor in self-hatred. 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles whispered. 

“No, no, don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’ve told me, because now I can tell you how I see things.” Noah replied. “You are not evil Stiles. You are not a monster. Kate made you do those things. She forced you to do things that you didn’t want to, do you know what I saw? I saw my son who fought with everything he had to make sure Sam survived, even when he knew it would result in him getting hurt, when he knew he would be beaten to the brink of death for allowing Sam to escape. I saw my son who outsmarted her enough to escape from her, who wanted to kill himself in order to protect everyone else, who tricked her into believing we were all dead so that she didn’t kill us. She might have made you do awful things Stiles, and I don’t know that you’ll ever want to open up and tell us everything, but, I know, with every beat of my heart, that what she forced you to do, that doesn’t make you evil, it doesn’t make you a monster.” 

“I didn’t save Sam’s parents, I didn’t stop her from killing Henry, I asked her to kill Mike, what kind of person does that!? How can I be a good person if I asked her to kill him? How can I not be evil?” Stiles said and Noah stilled for a moment, trying to control his rage at Kate, she had gotten away with everything too easily, he wished he could have killed her, made it drawn out, painful, slow. 

“Stiles, that’s not…he was going to…she put you in an impossible situation. I saw the video; I saw what he was going to do.”

“What my blood made him want to do.” Stiles argued. 

“Which you never would have been in that position if it hadn’t been for Kate, you are always so careful with cuts, you would have made sure he didn’t experience it if it wasn’t for her. Stiles, we can argue this all day, going around in circles, but I know what a good man you are kiddo, and you need to realise it too. When I saw what she was planning, when you begged her not to, when she forced Henry and Mike to take your blood, when she killed them, do you know what I thought?” 

“What?” Stiles muttered quietly. 

“I thought, ‘thank god she killed them’. I was grateful to her. First and last time in my life that I will ever be grateful to that bitch, but I was so relieved. I wanted to kill them myself, I would have done if I was there. But, if I had been willing to kill them for hurting you, does that make me a bad person for planning on killing them myself?” Stiles shook his head silently, “Exactly, they weren’t hurting me, but I wanted them dead, I would have killed them. Even when Kate offered you an escape, you still asked her not to kill him, to stop him but not kill him, and, when that failed, you still hesitated, you didn’t want to do it Stiles but she left you no choice, it was a matter of protecting yourself, and it wasn’t just about…it wasn’t just the fact that he was going to…I don’t meant protecting yourself from the…from the sex.” Noah said haltingly, “It was the fact he was hurting you too. He murdered Henry’s girlfriend while he raped her, there was a good chance he would have done the same to you. I just, I don’t know how to make you believe me when I tell you that you are not a bad person for not being able to fight her orders, or for defending yourself. If Derek orders you to do something could you not do it?” Noah asked. 

“No. I mean, I could try and fight it, but, as soon as my concentration was broken, I’d end up doing it.” Stiles admitted, sniffing slightly. 

“Exactly, Stiles,” Noah smiled gently, “You are not a bad person because you were forced to do bad things. Kate was evil. You are not. Have you hurt anyone since Derek took control? Have you been forced to hurt people? Have you been forced to do things you wouldn’t want to usually?” 

“No.” Stiles agreed quietly. 

“Because Derek is a good man. Kate was the evil one Stiles, not you. Please, believe me.” Noah pleaded and Stiles nodded stiltedly. 

“I want to believe you, and, what you said makes sense, but I still feel so guilty. All the things I did…”

“That she made you do, Stiles. I understand you feel guilty about it, there’s things I’ve done in my life that I feel guilty about even when I know I had no choice in the matter, people I’ve killed in the line of duty, that even now, years on, I go over and over in my head about how things could have gone differently, that they didn’t have to die. But, I’ve realised that dwelling on what could have been‘s don’t change what actually happened, all it does it make me feel like crap for things that can’t be changed. But, I think it might help you, if, when you’re feeling like this, that you talk to me, or to the pack, and we can all reassure you that you aren’t evil, you aren’t a monster, and the world would be a much darker place without you in it kid. I can’t make decisions for you, I can’t tell you to fight through every day and expect that to be enough, but, I can tell you that I will always be here for you, I will always have your back, I will tell you every day how much I love you and how proud I am of you and how fantastic and brilliant and amazing you are, I don’t ever want you to doubt that, you may doubt yourself, but, whenever you do, you come to me and I’ll remind you that you have no reason to doubt how incredible you are and how proud I am of you.” Noah said, his voice cracking with pride and Stiles surged forwards, pulling his dad into a tight hug, clinging to him so tightly that he prayed it would make him feel less like he was crumbling apart. 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles sobbed quietly. 

“No, you don’t have to be sorry Stiles, I’m so glad you told me, and, god, I’m sorry, I wish I’d realised how you felt all these years, what happened with your mom, that wasn’t your fault, she was sick Stiles, there was nothing you could have done to save her, even if she had managed to last longer, there’s no guarantee you would have found out about your magic when you were ten, it could have been longer and your mom would have been suffering and would have gotten worse and, just, it wasn’t your fault. I know I shouted at you, but I was terrified I was going to lose you too, I mean, she stabbed you! You lost so much blood, you nearly died and I was so scared that I was going to lose you kid, I reacted badly, I know that, but that doesn’t mean I think it was your fault in any way. It wasn’t. If it was anybody’s, it was mine, I should have put your mom in to Eichen House when the hospital suggested it, I just, I was convinced that she was just going through a bad phase, that she’d get through it, it was my fault she was still at the hospital, even after trying to throw you off the roof, after she broke your arm, I just, I couldn’t accept that she was gone. And it nearly cost me you. I was terrified and I didn’t do things the way I should have done, but it doesn’t mean it was your fault. You were a kid Stiles, just a kid looking for his mom and I should have protected you, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry dad. It was just, I hate that you didn’t get more days with her, that you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, because of me.” 

“No, not because of you. Because of the illness. Besides, your mom had been gone for a long time, we both know that, just neither of us could admit it. She was ill Stiles. You couldn’t have saved her, nobody could.” Noah paused, taking a deep breath and looking Stiles in the eyes, “It wasn’t your fault. I love you Stiles, I always have and I always will.” 

“I love you too dad.” Stiles whispered quietly, suddenly aware of the rest of the pack hovering at the foot of the stairs, looking at him with guilt filled eyes. “Sorry about that, you know, emotional breakdowns will be restricted to the bedroom from now on I swear.” He said, trying to joke while swiping at the tears on his cheeks, what he didn’t expect was for Scott to burst in to tears, heart-breaking sobs that tore at Stiles’ chest and all he wanted to do was comfort Scott. 

“I’m sorry Stiles, I’m so sorry.” Scott sobbed, he looked like his entire world had crumbled in a matter of seconds and Stiles didn’t know what had happened, he didn’t think his moment with his dad would affect Scott, or the rest of the pack, this much, except, Scott was crying like his heart had shattered and the rest of the pack didn’t look far off falling apart too. 

“We’re sorry, we should have come for you…” Allison said before trailing off into tears and Stiles’ face flushed with colour, he wasn’t sure how much of the argument they’d heard, but, god, he didn’t need them to feel even more guilty over it. 

“Relax, it’s cool, you had, like, bigger things to be dealing with or whatever, you guys live busy lives, it’s fine…” 

“What are you talking about?” Isaac said looking worried and Stiles shrugged, blushing further as Isaac started up the stairs, “Stiles, what do you mean?” Isaac asked. 

“Well, um, I mean, it wasn’t like I expected any of you to think like that my rescue was your first priority, and, you shouldn’t feel guilty about that, I mean, don’t think you have to be nice to me just because you feel sorry for me or guilty or whatever, it wasn’t that bad, okay, yeah, there was lots of murder and death and stuff but I’m sure you guys had important stuff going on here so it’s not like it’s a big deal, I’m okay with it, honestly.” 

“I think what Stiles is trying to say is that he feels,” Noah glanced to Stiles, “What was it you said? You were never good enough, you couldn’t do the things they could do, you were annoying and they were better off without you, they got fed up of you, you always caused issues, they didn’t want you around, that’s why they didn’t come, because they didn’t care. You’re scared they’re going to get fed up of you again, that as soon as the guilt wears off they’ll throw you away again, or they’ll realise how broken you are and get bored of having to deal with it all. Or that they’ll only want to keep you around because you have magic now, that they don’t want you here just for being you, because how could they? That about covers the gist of it, doesn’t it?” Noah said kindly while Stiles stared at him with wide eyes as if unable to believe his father had just outed his deepest fears. There was silence from the pack, all of them staring at him as if they’d never seen him before, Stiles didn’t know what to say or where to look or what to do, when suddenly the entire pack was rushing towards him up the stairs, all of them looking completely horrified. 

“No, no, no, that’s not true…”, “That’s not how we felt...”, “That’s not what happened...”, “You’re such an idiot how could you possibly think…”, “That’s ridiculous, we wouldn’t…”, “Stiles, please don’t…” Their words were all spoken over each other and Stiles couldn’t make sense of any of them, it was all just a mass of noise. 

“Quiet!” Derek shouted and everyone fell silent instantly, glancing at their Alpha who looked just as distraught as the rest of them. “Stiles, that is not what happened.” Derek said firmly. 

“It’s my fault, god, it’s all my fault. Stiles, I’m so sorry, I’m so fucking sorry.” Scott sobbed, reaching out to touch Stiles and then hesitating as if he wasn’t sure how Stiles was going to react. 

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked uncertainly. 

“We didn’t leave you Stiles. We didn’t want you to leave. We don’t ever want you to leave.” Erica said quickly, “And you’re not annoying or useless, you’re funny and smart and amazing and we want you around for so many reasons, not because you have magic, not because you’re bound to Derek or anything like that, you’re just, everything is better when you’re around, you’re the only reason any of us are alive, you’re the only reason we are a pack now, because we thought that if we were a pack, if we showed you that we could work together, then you’d want to come home.” 

“What are you talking about?” Stiles said, his voice wavering slightly in worry. 

“I mean, this, hang on, look at this.” Scott said, pulling out his phone and scrolling through it for a moment before shoving it in Stiles’ face, Stiles took the phone with trembling fingers, reading the text chain in front of him in silence, “We didn’t know about your dad, not until a few days after, it was my fault, because I was supposed to check on you, but I thought you’d just freaked at the game, I didn’t think it meant anything, I left you a voicemail and when you didn’t call back I just, didn’t think anything about it, I was such a shit friend, I’m so sorry, and then, when Erica and Boyd got home and told us what had happened with Gerard, we went to the house and you weren’t there and we heard what happened to your dad so we headed to the hospital to see your dad and you weren’t there, but the nurse on reception told us your aunt Sofia had taken you out of town.” Scott began tearfully. 

“We tried calling your phone, but it kept going to voicemail, so we called and left voicemails with your Aunt’s number, you text us back off that, and, well, you can see what ‘you’ said. You told us you wanted out. That you weren’t coming back. That you didn’t want anything to do with the supernatural any longer.” Lydia explained. 

“Then we got the message, the picture of your stomach, all covered in bruises and stuff…” Allison added. 

“I think I kind of remember that, she tied me to a chair to make sure she didn’t show off where the bullet hit me, I thought it was to send to Gerard, to show what she’d been doing to me…” 

“Well, we saw that, and we understood why you wanted out, you didn’t heal like the wolves, you’d been hurt, you needed time to clear your head, to heal, to decide what you wanted to do without having to run for your life again or whatever.” Boyd said.

“So, we all started working together, because we let you down, you got hurt because we weren’t working as a pack should, we weren’t communicating properly and you got hurt and none of us wanted that to ever happen again, so, we started working together, building bridges and all that.” Isaac continued. 

“And we kept calling you, leaving you messages, telling you what was going on in our lives, telling you how much we missed you and we wanted you to know you could come home whenever you wanted.” Jackson added and Stiles startled at that, breaking out of the trance he was in, staring at the screen in front of him in shock. 

“You? Jackson Whittemore called me and told me he missed me?” Stiles said incredulously and Jackson flushed. 

“Yeah, well, everyone was miserable, Erica and Boyd were moping everywhere, Scott wouldn’t stop whining, Lydia was annoyed because you were the only one who could even remotely challenge her intellectually other than Peter, but she didn’t exactly get on that well with him at that point in time. And the others, Isaac and Derek, god, they were unbearable to be around sometimes, so quiet and serious, there wasn’t any laughter, I wanted you to come home so everyone would be happy again.” 

“That sounds a little unbelievable.” Stiles muttered, looking back at Scott’s phone and scrolling through more messages. 

“Here.” Derek said, handing his phone to Stiles, “Just, bear in mind that I’d been drinking with Peter and was a little drunk.” He muttered. 

“Werewolves can’t get drunk.” Stiles retorted, taking the phone regardless. 

“We can if it’s laced with wolfsbane.” Peter commented and Stiles nodded. 

“Good to know.” He whispered hoarsely. 

“What’s it say?” Cora asked in curiosity, she had no idea what her brother had written to Stiles, but she figured it must be pretty important if Derek thought it would convince Stiles that they didn’t all hate him. 

“Um, well,” Stiles flushed slightly and Derek nodded, telling Stiles it was okay to read it aloud, “The first one says ’Stiles, call me back.’, then, ‘It’s urgent.’, ‘Stiles.’, ‘I miss you.’, ‘I want you to come home, it’s not the same without you.’, ‘Please.’, ‘Stiles.’, ‘I want to hear your voice, not in my head, hear your actual voice.’, ‘Please call me back.’ And then, um, well it carries on like that for a while,” Stiles scrolled through at least another thirty messages, “Then the next day it says ‘I’m sorry. I was drunk.’, ‘It’s still all true though. I really do miss you Stiles. When you’re ready, if you’re ready, we’d all love for you to come home.’” Stiles stared at the screen in front of him, he was speechless, he had no idea what to think. It hadn’t just been those two days that Derek had text him, there had to be hundreds of texts to him over the past year, not to mention the same on Scott’s phone. 

“Do you want to see mine too? I can show you my messages if it helps? Although I tended to call your phone because I liked listening to your voice message, but you can see my call logs?” Erica offered and Stiles shook his head, he had all the evidence he needed. 

“But, I, um, I don’t understand…” He whispered in shock.

“This is why it’s all my fault Stiles.” Scott sobbed, “I didn’t, I forgot, I didn’t recognise what Sofia meant. You told me the codewords and you used them and I just, I forgot. I’m so sorry. I should have realised what it meant. I just, there’s no excuse. It’s all my fault. I never thought that you were in trouble, I just figured you were recovering from what Gerard had done and you were scared about coming home because you’d have to face what was going on with your dad. I never thought you were in trouble and it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry. Please, please forgive me.” Scott whispered, looking like he was about to fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness. 

“So…just…give me a minute.” Stiles replied, trying to process what was happening, looking around at the pack who were all teary eyed, “I saw my phone. Kate had my phone. She used it to show me that you guys weren’t even missing me, that you didn’t care about me, she threw it away after six months, when you hadn’t even attempted contact.” He said. 

“She must have had a duplicate made, or blocked our calls, or removed the sim card or something, Stiles, I promise you, we all called, we all tried to get you to come home, but we thought it was your choice. We wanted to track you down, come see you, convince you to see sense, but, you said you wanted out, that you were free and you never answered our calls or replied to any of our texts and we just, we didn’t want to force you to come home when you weren’t ready.” Allison said and Stiles nodded numbly. 

“You mean, it wasn’t…” Stiles took a steadying breath, “It wasn’t that you guys didn’t care, it was that you didn’t know anything was wrong?” Stiles whispered and they all nodded eagerly. 

“Yes, exactly!” Erica said in desperation, “Stiles, you have to believe us, if we’d had any idea, we would have come for you. We wouldn’t have stopped until we found you.” 

“So, um, you’re not just being friendly now because you feel like some kind of guilt or responsibility or pity or whatever? I mean, you don’t mind me being here? You don’t hate me or only keep me around out of guilt or because I’m part of the special club now?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Peter said in outrage, “Of course we all feel guilty, but that’s not why you’re here Stiles, Erica is right, we are only a pack now because of you, because losing you forced us all to communicate, to work together, to stop anything like that happening again but also, more importantly, to let you know that we would be here for you when you came home, that we would never let you down again, or, try not to at least.” 

“Wow.” Stiles muttered, “Even freaking Peter missed me. Did you guys all suffer head trauma while I was away?” He asked sarcastically and Scott let out a shaky sob. 

“I’m so sorry Stiles, I should have realised, I just, I thought you hated me, I thought you blamed me for what Gerard did, for not coming for you that night, for not rescuing you from him. I was trying to do the right thing and stay away from you, give you the space you said you needed. I just, I forgot the code words and that’s on me, this is all my fault. If I’d realised when I first heard it then maybe we could have found you before Kate had a chance to complete the ritual and you wouldn’t have been bound to her and you’d be free right now and, god, I’m just so sorry Stiles, it’ll never be enough, I know that, but, I just, I need you to know I am sorry and I completely understand if you never forgive me, I mean, god, the things you’ve gone through because I was too stupid to realise what it meant, the fact you’ve spent the past year convinced that we didn’t care about you, except you still saved our lives in the graveyard, even when you thought we hated you, you saved our lives, god, I don’t deserve a friend like you, I really don’t, all I’ve ever done is let you down, you’ve saved my life, all the time and you’ve always had my back and I’ve been so stupid and selfish and self-centred and you’re the one who paid the price and I’m sorry, god, I’m so, so sorry Stiles.” Scott rambled until Stiles silenced him by pulling him in to a hug. 

“It’s okay Scotty.” Stiles whispered in to his ear as Scott sobbed, clinging tightly to Stiles, like his life depended it. “It’s alright, I’m okay, I’m home now, that’s all that matters.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, it’s okay, it’s not your fault, it’s not. I should have thought that you might not remember the code words, it was six years ago, we were only kids, I just figured you’d remember them, but, it’s not your fault that you didn’t. Please don’t blame yourself.” 

“But if I’d just realised, I could have saved you from everything she did to you, all those awful things…”

“There’s no guarantee of that. If you’d realised you could have charged in to save me and still have been too late and the early days...the early days I don’t remember a lot of it, just blurs and bits and pieces, but, she could have got me to do pretty much anything back then and I was too out of it to really know what was going on. She could have killed you and I might not have even remembered it, or, you could have arrived in time to stop the ritual and I could have died from the wounds I’d suffered, or you know, there’s just so many different scenarios, I think dad’s probably right, we can’t dwell on what if’s, just the fact that we’re all together, that we’re alive and we’re home. I think maybe thinking of all the ways things could have been different is just going to drive us all insane.” Stiles replied honestly, still hugging Scott until, eventually, they parted. “I know you’ve got my back Scotty, and I’ll always have yours too, no matter what happens in life, I will always have your back, you’ve got to believe that, even if it looks like I hate you, you will always be my best friend, my brother.” 

“You’ll always be my brother too Stiles.” Scott whispered in response, swiping at the tears on his cheeks as Stiles let out a sad chuckle, wiping at his own tears and grinning at Scott. 

“Well, that won’t be an issue, I mean, Derek’s never going to force you to act like you hate us. And, we’re going to find a way to reverse the ritual, I’m sure we’re close, we just need to find the right book and then we’ll have a way to free you Stiles, and then you’ll never have to do anything you don’t want to ever again.” Cora said optimistically. 

“Yeah, I’m sure we will.” Stiles replied quietly, “But, um, there’s something I haven’t told you, something that is probably kind of important and I haven’t mentioned it because, well, there hasn’t really been an opportunity to say it, and, well, I’m not, I don’t know how to explain it, if I even can explain it, I’m not really sure how to start, how to even begin to explain…” Stiles trailed off when Sam’s door opened and he blinked blearily at Stiles. 

“What’s going on?” Sam mumbled sleepily. 

“Nothing kiddo, we’re just talking.” Stiles said smoothly, moving towards Sam and checking he was okay, “Why don’t you go back to bed?” 

“I had a nightmare.” Sam said quietly and Stiles winced, “Can I sleep in with you please?” 

“Um, yeah, sure, of course you can kid, how about you go to my room and I’ll be there in a little bit?” 

“Can you come now and do a story?” Sam asked, Stiles looked at the pack uncertainly before Derek rolled his eyes. 

“How about we all pile in to my room and Stiles can tell you a story and we can all sleep together tonight? Does that sound okay to you?” Derek offered and Sam nodded. “Okay, why don’t you guys all go get your pjs on and Sam and I can make everyone some hot chocolate?” 

“So long as I get to sleep next to Stiles.” Sam replied and Stiles grinned, he hoped nobody could sense his panic, running a hand through his hair affectionately. 

“Sure buddy. I’ll see you there in a few.” He said, letting go of Sam and heading to his own room to get changed. He didn’t exactly like the plan because he knew it meant he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all if he didn’t want to disturb anyone with his nightmares, he also didn’t like the fact that they would all comment on the fact he was wearing his long sleeved top and trousers on but it wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter, not if he wanted to keep his scars secret.

As soon as he left his room he could hear the majority of the pack muttering in Derek’s bedroom, he moved forwards uncertainly, he hadn’t done anything like this before, well, that wasn’t true, he’d been in a bed with Kate, James, Daniel and Matt before, but, he prayed that tonight wasn’t going to be like that.

“Hey.” He muttered quietly in the doorway and Scott grinned at him, waving him forwards, Stiles took in the majority of the pack, the fact they were all in sleep shorts and either shirtless or in light t-shirts, he plucked at the sleeve of his t-shirt nervously. 

“You’re going to be way too hot in that.” Scott offered and Stiles shrugged. 

“I’ll be fine. Is Sam up here yet?” He asked. 

“They’re just on their way.” Cora said and Stiles nodded, super hearing was pretty awesome sometimes.

“Okay, sure.” Stiles replied nervously, he felt awkward, uncertain, he wished he could just be in his own room right now, hide away from everything, instead he clenched his fists, took a deep breath and steadied himself, “Well, you guys know the best spots, where’s the most comfortable?” He joked and Scott smiled at him brightly, looking so relieved that Stiles was even attempting to act normal. 

“Right here buddy, but you got here way too slow, it’s mine now.” Scott teased and Stiles let out a surprised laugh. 

“Not if I have anything to do with it.” Stiles replied diving on top of Scott and wrestling him for the spot, both of them playfighting until Stiles managed to wriggle in to the spot that Scott had just been occupying and he let out a sigh of contentment, “You weren’t kidding, this is super comfy.” He grinned, relaxing back in to the bed. 

“Only because I let you win.” Scott said and Stiles chuckled. 

“Sure you did.” Stiles replied sarcastically, sitting up when Sam and Derek appeared in the doorway and Sam launched himself at Stiles, landing in his lap lightly and smiling happily at the pack. 

“This is so cool.” Sam smiled, taking the hot chocolate from Derek and handing it carefully to Stiles. 

“Thanks dude, now, what kind of story do you want to hear?” Stiles said, making himself comfortable and not surprised to see the rest of the pack doing the same.

“Can you tell me one about a dragon and a knight being best friends and going all over the country defeating evil?” Sam asked excitedly. 

“Yeah I can do that for you.” Stiles replied, putting his cup down to twist his fingers so that shadows and mist appeared above their heads, “Once upon a time there was a dragon so beautiful that anyone who saw her stilled in their tracks, transfixed by her beauty. She was magnificent and deadly, her scales sparkled whenever the sun hit them and everyone near her had to cover their eyes so they didn’t go blind. Her name was Anbraxas and she was feared across the whole country.” Stiles used his magic to create the ghost of a bright blue dragon that flew seamlessly around the room, breathing fire at her enemies, Sam was staring raptly at the dragon above him and Stiles smiled softly to himself before continuing with the story, “Now Anbraxas was lonely, as beautiful and dangerous as she was, nobody really wanted to be her friend, they were only kind to her in an attempt to make sure she didn’t eat them.” Stiles made the dragon above them snap her jaws and Sam jumped slightly, cuddling in to Stiles’ side. 

“Did she ever eat them?” Sam whispered. 

“No, she much preferred fish, but everyone forgot that when they saw the size of her teeth.” Stiles teased, “Now, one day Anbraxas was lounging outside of her cave, when a knight came walking towards her, his armour was damaged and bent in places, his helmet was missing, in fact, he barely looked like a knight, bruises and cuts littered his skin and Anbraxas was incredibly curious about this knight and what he was doing here…” Stiles continued. 

It didn’t take long before Sam was sleeping peacefully against his side, what Stiles didn’t expect when he looked around at the pack was to see them all sleeping just as peacefully, apart from Derek who seemed to be fighting his exhaustion with everything he had, staring at Stiles and Sam silently before he gave Stiles a sleepy smile and drifted in to sleep. 

Stiles stared at the sleeping pack around him, his hot chocolate had long since gone cold, the dragon and knight were still hovering in the air above them, staying motionless after finishing their most recent battle, waiting for instructions from Stiles’ magic as to what to do next, Stiles stared at them for a few moments before he twisted his fingers and his mother’s face appeared, she looked healthy, happy, as she had done before the illness took over her mind and destroyed the person she had been.


	8. Chapter 8

He stared at her for hours while the rest of the pack slept on around him, Stiles was tired and he was way too hot, which was saying something because Stiles ran cold most of the time, and he really wanted to crawl in to his own bed and try and get a few hours sleep, instead, he lay as still as he could so as to not disturb Sam or any of the others until he felt himself start to drift off and he startled awake instantly, managing to shift Sam off him enough that he could climb off the bed and out of the door without waking anyone. He walked around the silent house, his fingers trailing softly along the walls, it was weird, imagining how different things would have been if Scott had realised the code word. Stiles had told him it wasn’t his fault and he meant it, he didn’t blame Scott, and he’d also meant it when he said that there was no guarantee what could have happened if they’d tried to save him at the beginning, they could have all been killed. But, still, the thought of how different things could have been, if he’d never found himself bound to Kate, if he’d been able to heal his father, if he’d been able to discover what his magic could do without having it ripped from him time after time. He wondered about the pack; would they have been different if they’d rescued him only a few days after his capture? If what they said was true, and they only started working together and communicating in an effort to make sure that they never let Stiles down again, would they still have felt like that if they’d realised he’d been captured rather than running away? He sighed heavily, there was no point in worrying about what if’s, it didn’t happen, they didn’t realise, they didn’t come for him in time, the ritual was completed and Stiles was a prisoner in his own body. 

He tiptoed downstairs, flicking on a lamp near one of the chairs, picking up the nearest supernatural book and creating a fresh mug of steaming, hot coffee that he sipped at hastily, determined to keep himself awake. He knew today was going to be a long day, he had school to go to, knowing that the rumours would have only spread since yesterday, he was already tired and wanted to sleep for a month, but he knew that wasn’t an option, even if his nightmares didn’t disturb him, life definitely would. He felt better though, knowing that the pack weren’t just keeping him around to ease their guilt, that they’d actually missed him, he had been so surprised to read Scott’s texts, to read Derek’s, he had never expected them to miss him, he’d thought that he was annoyance, a nuisance, always getting in the way, and, okay, Derek had said he’d been drunk, but, he also said he’d missed Stiles and wanted him to come back, even the next day when he was sober again. And Derek had saved his jeep for him, had it repaired, how could Stiles have ever doubted that they cared? How could he have ever believed Kate?

They wanted him around, and it wasn’t some kind of pity or guilt that made them want him around, they actually cared about him, they’d missed him, it was obvious now that he knew the truth, the way Derek’s face had lit up when he’d first seen Stiles on the way to the graveyard, the way Scott had looked at him with such relief until Stiles had called him a monster, the way they had all raced to find him and stop him from ending it all. Yeah, they cared about him. He smiled softly to himself. He wasn’t annoying, okay, maybe he was at times, but, they weren’t about to disown him because of it, they wanted him to stay with them, he put the book to one side, heading upstairs to his room and shutting the door quietly behind him. 

He didn’t know that he was ever going to be the same person he was before he was taken, but he knew he didn’t want to be the person he was right now. He wanted to be able to look his friends and enemies in the eyes and not flinch, not glare at the ground uselessly. He wanted to be able to smile and it not feel like a grimace, he wanted to be able to say something sarcastic without fear of being hit or beaten or burned or stabbed or shot. He wanted to make decisions without worrying about how his master would react and if it would cause him to be punished. He longed, more than anything, to be free. But he couldn’t get that just yet, and, Derek wasn’t a bad owner to have, but he just wanted to be free. Instead, until they figured out how to do that, he was just going to have to remind himself exactly who he was, he was Stiles Stilinski, he was strong, he had survived Kate and worse and he would survive anything anybody could throw at him. 

“I am not afraid. I am strong. I am capable. I can survive anything. And fuck anyone who says I can’t.” He muttered to his reflection, smiling slightly at how ridiculous he felt. He used his magic to conjure up some new clothes, instead of trying to be invisible, wishing that nobody would look at him, he was going to make sure that everyone knew exactly who he was and what he was capable of. He didn’t want to go too crazy, he just, wanted to feel like himself again. He stared at the Captain America’s shield centred in the middle of his t-shirt and smiled, yeah, that brought back lots of fond memories. He dressed in a pair of jeans and boots, a long sleeve red t-shirt underneath the white Captain America t-shirt, making sure his arms were hidden to hide the scars there, he picked up his tanned leather jacket and headed down in to the kitchen. He knew it wouldn’t be long before everyone started to wake up so he made another mug of coffee, knowing there was probably more caffeine than blood in his body right now, but, hopefully it would be enough to get him through the day, and then he began to make breakfast, after everything that happened last night, he figured everyone would appreciate it. 

Derek was the first to appear, he looked like he’d only just woken up, dark hair sticking up in all directions as he stumbled in to the kitchen, looking surprised to find Stiles already there and cooking breakfast. 

“Morning.” Stiles greeted, pouring a mug of coffee and sliding it in front of Derek.

“Hey.” Derek mumbled in greeting, stilling for a second as he took in Stiles’ appearance and he blinked a few times before finding his voice, Stiles was more than a little breath taking and it took Derek a second to remember how to breathe, “Nice shirt.” He commented and Stiles grinned. 

“I always used to like this shirt.” He shrugged casually, returning to the stove and flipping the bacon there. 

“It suits you.” Derek replied, taking a swig of coffee and blinking away the last remnants of sleep. 

“Thanks. I kind of, well, after the talk last night, dad’s right, I don’t want to be who I have been since Kate, and I don’t know if I can go back to who I was before her, I’m not sure I even want to, I used to hate how useless and incapable I felt, I don’t want to go back to that, but, maybe I can be something else, somewhere in between or something, I don’t know, it sounds a bit ridiculous, I know, but, I have to make a start somewhere and this kind of felt like a good place to make a start, something good that I used to enjoy.” Stiles rambled and Derek grinned happily, he loved listening to Stiles talking. 

“That makes sense.” Derek agreed, “And, um, you know that we’re all here for you, if you want to talk, if you want advice, or not advice, or, just, whatever.” He said haltingly and Stiles turned from the stove to look at him in surprise. 

“Thanks dude, I’ll bear it in mind. Anyway, what are your plans for today?” 

“Not much, I’ve just finished my latest project and have some holiday time due, I thought it would be good to spend some time trying to find a way to reverse the ritual.” 

“Don’t get all stressed about it, I mean, sure, obviously I don’t want to be forced to do things, but, you know, there’s much worse people out there that I could be bound to so it’s not like I’m dreading every second until I’m free.” Stiles shrugged casually. 

“I get that, but I want you to be free Stiles, I want you to be able to make your own decisions, even if they’re not ones I agree with.” Derek replied. 

“Here was me thinking you would love being able to order me to do whatever you wanted. I seem to remember you used to get all irate when I ignored you.” Stiles teased and Derek blushed slightly. 

“I’m sorry, I know when I first got back to town my head was all over the place, Laura had just died and Peter was on the loose and then I became Alpha and the adjustment was hard, but, it doesn’t excuse my behaviour, I…” Derek tried to find the right word, “I guess, I didn’t know how to listen, how to take advice, even when I knew you were only looking out for me. I’m sorry about that.” 

“Dude, did you just apologise for shouting at me all the time?” Stiles asked incredulously. 

“Yeah.”

“And for threatening to rip my throat out with your teeth?” 

“One time!” Derek sighed, “But, still, yes.”

“And for always ignoring me and doing whatever you wanted?” 

“You did that too.” Derek muttered and Stiles laughed brightly. 

“Yeah I did. Wow, you’ve really mellowed in the last year.” Stiles said sounding a little awestruck before he cleared his throat, “Anyway, we’re getting slightly off topic, point being, if you have some holiday time to use up, and you want to spend it doing something you actually want to do, like, I don’t know, go to the cinema or see some other friends or whatever, you know, it’s not like I’m… I don’t want you to miss out on doing things you actually want to do because of me, I can wait.” Stiles rambled and Derek glared at him. 

“No.” 

“What?” Stiles asked, scrunching his nose in confusion. 

“No, I know you can wait, but you shouldn’t have to. Stiles, you’ve spent a year being forced to do things that nobody should ever have to do, being bound to a complete psychopath who tried to destroy every ounce of good in you, you deserve to be free, to be able to do whatever you want whenever you want, even if I don’t agree with you sometimes. So, yeah, I’m going to use my free time to find a way to free you and then we can all do whatever we want. Okay?” 

“Um, yeah, sure, that sounds good.” Stiles nodded, piling the bacon on the plate next to the pan and making himself a sandwich.

“You started to say last night, about something important, before Sam interrupted us?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded in agreement. 

“It’ll be hard to talk about. I think it’ll be easier if the whole pack is here.” Stiles replied, “Can we talk tonight? After Sam has gone to bed?” 

“Yeah, sure, it’s, um, whatever it is, it’s not going to be, nothing bad is going to happen today because of it?”

“Today? Nope, no, it’ll be fine, but yeah we need to talk about it somehow, you need to know.” Stiles said, taking a swig of coffee just as Sam appeared in the doorway, already dressed for school and looking wide awake, moving to Stiles and eating the sandwich off his plate, Derek wanted to tell him off, tell him that he could eat his own food, not Stiles’, except Stiles gave Sam’s head an affectionate rub and moved back to the pan to make another sandwich, yawning slightly as he went. Derek looked at Stiles again, saw the dark shadows under his eyes, he wondered if Stiles had slept at all last night, he had to have done, maybe he hadn’t slept well, but, he had to have slept for at least a little while, Derek was sure of it. “Do you want eggs too?” Stiles offered and Sam grinned, nodding happily as Stiles cracked a few eggs in to the pan. 

Before long the rest of the pack had arrived down the stairs, helping themselves to the food in the fridge, preparing themselves for the day, Lydia rolled her eyes when she saw Stiles’ t-shirt, commenting that if he was going to wear it then he could at least make it fit properly. 

“It fits, I don’t know what you mean.” Stiles replied and Lydia rolled her eyes again, moving to Stiles and pulling the t-shirt at his waist. 

“You need at least two sizes smaller for it to actually fit properly, you’ve got a good physique, you need to show it off more.” Lydia said and Stiles stared at her. 

“Did you just compliment me?” He asked in astonishment and Scott grinned widely. 

“I’m pretty sure Lydia Martin just told you you’re hot.” Scott laughed. 

“Be still my beating heart.” Stiles said dramatically, pretending he needed the counter to hold himself upright, “THE Lydia Martin, did you hear her? Did you all hear her!? She said I have a ‘good physique’!” Stiles teased while Lydia smacked him playfully on the arm. 

“I think I preferred when you were too in love with me to talk to me.” Lydia joked and Stiles grinned. 

“Oh come on, we both know I wasn’t ever in love with you really.” He smiled. 

“Really?” Lydia said sounding surprised, “I mean, I just figured you got over it, but you weren’t actually in love with me?” 

“Nah.” Stiles shrugged, “Don’t get me wrong, you’re awesome, you know that, and, I thought for a while I was, but, then…” He trailed off slightly, flushed almost the slightest bit and continued, “I realised that I wasn’t. Simple really.” Stiles said, finishing off his latest coffee before heading towards the living room and grabbing his school bag. 

“You still need a smaller size!” Lydia called after him and Stiles rolled his eyes before twitching his fingers and his shirt shrunk slightly. 

“Happy?” 

“No, but, it’s better than it was.” She replied, “I think I need to take you shopping and show you how to dress properly, you would be a complete heartthrob in a three-piece suit.”

“He’s already hot, he doesn’t need to be in a suit.” Erica commented. 

“Maybe his birthday suit would be better.” Cora teased and Stiles flushed brightly while Erica nodded in agreement, grinning at Stiles predatorily. 

“Don’t even think about it Reyes, I’ll take you down and I won’t even feel bad about it.” Stiles replied lightly, waiting until Erica rolled her eyes fondly and grabbed her bag from the side. 

“You spoil all my fun.” She muttered and Stiles shook his head in amusement. 

“I’m really nothing special to look at, birthday suit or not.” Stiles shrugged. 

“What’s your birthday suit?” Sam asked and Stiles flushed again. 

“It’s, um, well, it’s just, it’s a suit I used to wear every year on my birthday, but I outgrew it, so, I don’t wear it anymore.” Stiles lied and the entire pack snorted with laughter before running their hands through Sam’s hair as they headed towards the door, “Come on, I’ll drop you at school, but we’ve got to be quick.” 

“Okay.” Sam agreed happily, grabbing his bag and running out ahead of Stiles. 

“We’ll talk tonight.” Derek said and Stiles nodded, giving his dad a quick grin before heading out after the rest of the pack. 

Stiles’ day at school wasn’t brilliant if he was honest, there were plenty of people giving him odd looks, and he was about seventy percent certain he saw a girl checking him out in the cafeteria, he didn’t mention it to the pack though, he didn’t want them to laugh at him when it turned out that he was mistaken and she was really looking at Scott or Jackson or Boyd or, well, anybody surrounding him, considering they were all incredibly attractive. Stiles kind of felt a little like the ugly duckling in the middle of a herd of swans.

It wasn’t as bad as yesterday had been though, he saw Theo again in his afternoon classes, he was staring at Stiles assessingly, his lips pursed, obviously in deep thought, trying to figure Stiles out, Stiles wasn’t sure he wanted Theo paying so much attention to him, but, he decided it wasn’t that important, there was plenty of other stuff he needed to concentrate on, like remembering how to do algebra. 

Danny sat next to him in one of his classes, grinning at him in greeting, helping Stiles when he got stuck on some of the harder questions, Stiles really appreciated it and at the end of class Danny offered to help him study if he ever wanted it, Stiles took him up on the offer gratefully, he’d need as much help as he could get. He knew he was able to pick things up quickly when he concentrated, and, if he didn’t, there was always magic, but, the fact Danny was trying to be a friend and offering to help him because he could see Stiles was struggling, well, it made Stiles feel a thousand times better about things, even if part of him just wanted Danny to treat him normally, like he used to, which meant basically blanking him.

Sam was waiting outside school again once they got to the car park, Noah was with him this time and Stiles smiled happily when Sam waved at him excitedly. Stiles had heard the rumours, more accurately, the pack had eavesdropped on other conversations and then told Stiles what they’d heard, what stories were going around school. It seemed to be that everyone had taken it as fact that Stiles hadn’t been living with his aunt but had instead been kidnapped and held prisoner for the past year. Nobody had mentioned the idea that Stiles had had anything to do with his dad being shot and nobody had even hinted at the idea he was responsible for his mom’s death. Instead, everyone was talking about Sam. Liam, who was in Sam’s class, had gone home and told his older sister all about Sam and what Sam had said about Stiles, how Stiles had saved his life and helped him escape from Kate, even though she’d hurt Stiles because of it, even though Stiles knew he was going to get hurt for helping Sam escape, even though Kate had killed Sam’s parents. The sister had text all of her friends about it before Liam had even finished talking and now it was all over the school. 

Stiles wasn’t mad at Sam for talking to Liam, he was a kid afterall and he couldn’t expect Sam not to sometimes let secrets slip, but, he wished that nobody knew what had happened with Kate, the thought of people looking at him with pity made his skin crawl, he didn’t want to be pitied. He was strong, he was powerful, he could do anything he set his mind to if he just believed he could, he did not want people seeing him as weak, as a victim. He wasn’t. He was a survivor. Kate was dead and Stiles was still alive. 

He refused to let people see him as a victim, he held his chin up in defiance, daring anyone to approach him and ask him about it, nobody did and Stiles moved confidently towards the cars and greeted his dad before picking Sam up and giving him a hug. 

“Hey buddy, how was school today? Did you have fun?” Stiles asked, moving towards the cars as the rest of the pack followed after him. 

The evening was quiet, the pack sprawled around the living room completing their homework or reading various magical books, they might have all look relaxed but Stiles could sense the undercurrent of tension, they were all waiting for Sam to go to bed so that they could talk about whatever Stiles felt was important. Stiles had been thinking about it all day, trying to plan how he could say it, but, every time he’d even tried to get the words out, he’d felt his orders kicking in and he’d clenched his jaw in frustration. 

Eventually it was time Sam went to bed so Stiles headed up after him to tell him a bedtime story, by the time he reappeared down the stairs twenty minutes later the pack had put away all the books, were sat upright in various chairs and were all looking at him patiently, Stiles gritted his teeth and moved in to the living room. 

“Right, I guess it’s that time then.” He sighed heavily. 

“You said you have something important to tell us?” Lydia queried. 

“Yeah I do.” Stiles agreed, taking a deep breath and bracing himself. “I know something, something that you don’t and it’s important…” He felt his magic comply with the orders in place and it felt like his jaw had been wired shut, he needed to try a different approach, “You need to know…” He tried again and failed. “It’s to do with…” 

“Just spit it out already.” Isaac teased and Stiles gritted his teeth, trying to fight the orders in place until black lines began to appear on the back of his hands and on his neck. 

“Woah! Woah, Stiles, stop!” Derek shouted and Stiles grimaced, he couldn’t even try to fight Derek’s orders while he’d been trying to fight the original orders. “You had lines appearing.”

“Yeah I was aware of that.” Stiles said sarcastically and the pack stilled, all of them looking serious. 

“Whatever it is that you have to tell us, it’s something you’ve been ordered not to tell us?” Allison asked. 

“To tell anyone.” Stiles clarified. 

“But you don’t have to follow those orders anymore Stiles, I’ve told you, you can tell us anything, talk to us about anything, there’s no secrets between us if you don’t want there to be.” Derek said. 

“This is different.” Stiles said, “That won’t work, there needs to be a specific phrase said…” His mouth snapped shut again and he clenched his jaw, his hands curling in to fists in frustration. 

“Okay, so, let’s try the right phrase then,” Scott said optimistically, “Um, ‘werewolves are monsters’?” Stiles shook his head, “How about, ‘Kate is the best’?” Cora smacked him around the back of the head and Scott looked at her in shock, “What!?” 

“’Kate is the best’, are you serious? She’s not twelve!” Cora snapped. 

“Well, what would you guess?” 

“I don’t know, but, I’m almost certain it’s not going to be something that just anybody could guess, she might have been ten bags of crazy but she was still smart.” Cora replied. 

“Can you give us a hint?” Melissa asked and Stiles pursed his lips in thought. 

“It’s not about…” That wasn’t going to work, “Kate isn’t…” He failed again, “He… god fucking dammit.” He cursed when he couldn’t even get the first word out without his magic kicking in. 

“It’s okay kid, we’ll figure it out, alright?” Noah said, resting a hand on Stiles’ shoulder and suddenly Stiles had an idea. 

“Allison, where’s your dad?” Stiles said and Allison looked at him like he was insane, as did the rest of the pack. 

“I’m standing right here Stiles.” Chris replied in confusion. 

“Chris, where’s…” Stiles started before his magic cut him off.

“Where’s what?” Erica asked and Stiles tried again before cursing under his breath in frustration. 

“Allison, where is your dad?” Stiles tried again. 

“Um, Stiles, you just asked that.” Scott said looking worried. 

“Chris…” Stiles trailed off looking pained. 

“…where’s your dad?” Derek finished and Stiles looked at him in relief, “Gerard. Where’s Gerard? This secret is about Gerard?” Stiles started to nod and then froze, grimacing in pain as he fought the order long enough to nod. 

“We don’t know what happened to him, he forced Derek to bite him, the mountain ash in his tablets stopped him from turning completely, he disappeared before we could kill him, but he probably crawled in to a hole and died somewhere.” Chris shrugged. 

“How certain are you of that?” Noah asked. 

“Stiles, is Gerard still alive?” Jackson whispered sounding terrified and Stiles looked at him sympathetically, attempting to nod before his magic stopped him again, instantly there was uproar. The entire pack were out of their seats, pacing around the room in agitation as if they expected Gerard to be standing outside and ready to attack them, several people actually pulled back the curtains to check while others clung to their partners looking worried. 

“He’s still alive. Fuck.” Derek cursed, running his hands through his hair, “Shit, shit, what the fuck? How is he alive? The mountain ash should have killed him, how is he alive? God dammit.” Derek muttered under his breath. 

“We need to have a plan; he could be coming for us right now.” Jackson said sounding panicked. 

“He’s not going to come for us.” Chris tried to suggest reasonably. 

“How do you know that!?” Erica shouted. “Did you know he was alive!? Have you been protecting him?” 

“Of course he didn’t!” Allison argued. Within moments the entire room had descended in to chaos, the pack were all shouting at each other, pacing around the room, falling apart at the very thought of Gerard being alive, of him being out there, Derek couldn’t take it. He needed to come up with a plan for how to deal with this and right now he couldn’t even hear himself think. 

“Quiet.” He said and everyone ignored him.

“… he did! You weren’t there!” Boyd was shouting. 

“I got hurt too…” Isaac was yelling.

“Shut up!” Derek repeated a little louder, his brain aching as Scott looked ready to pace a hole in the floor. 

“…my fault!?” Jackson said incredulously. 

“…hadn’t been there…” Allison interrupted. 

“….well you…” Peter commented. Derek couldn’t take it, god, he needed to get out of here, he needed a minute to think, he needed some fresh air to clear his head and help him think of what this meant. 

“I said shut up!” Derek shouted and everyone fell instantly silent, “Just, all of you, shut up and stop moving and just give me a minute to think!” He shouted, storming out of the house and towards the trees ahead of him. 

Stiles felt his magic comply with the order instantly, he didn’t mean to, he hadn’t been expecting it, it had caught him off guard and he hadn’t been quick enough to stop it. It meant that right now the entire pack were staring at him in terror, frozen in place, unable to move, unable to speak, and the only one who could stop it was Derek, who had just stormed out of the door and into the preserve.

Stiles could see them all looking at him with fear in their eyes and he realised he had to do something, he had to try and fight it, he focused with everything he had, putting all his effort in to fighting the order, ignoring the way it felt like his organs were turning to sludge, ignoring the pain running rampant through his body, ignoring the lines that appeared on his skin, he couldn’t think about them, all he could think about was breaking the order, disobeying long enough to get Derek to come back. 

“Dere…” He managed to croak before his magic got the better of him and he doubled over with pain. He gritted his teeth, clenched his jaw and tried again, concentrating instead on trying to break the magic for somebody else, crying out in pain when his magic fought against him. He heard another voice shout Derek’s name, but it fell silent only a moment later and Stiles screamed in pain as he struggled against the orders with everything he had. 

“Stiles? Stiles, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Sam’s voice filled his head and when he opened his eyes the boy was standing in front of him in his pyjamas looking completely terrified. Stiles gritted his teeth and poured everything he had in to disobeying Derek’s order. 

“Go find Derek now.” Stiles panted, fighting back a scream, his voice filled with pain before he promptly turned and threw up the black sludge all over the carpet. Sam backed away looking horrified before he ran out of the front door and towards the preserve, screaming for Derek. 

Derek tried to calm his racing heart as he ran through the preserve, so Gerard was alive, he didn’t know why that surprised him, the man was like a cockroach, but, still, he’d thought they’d seen the last of him and now this, he could have been planning an attack on them for the past year, he could have a plan ready to be used, Stiles could know all about it and he couldn’t tell them because of the stupid binding ritual. He just wished he could free Stiles and then he could tell them whatever he knew about Gerard. He’d slowed to a walk, trying to put himself in Gerard’s shoes, trying to figure out what the man might be planning, it was only when he heard Sam’s panicked shouts that Derek turned on the spot and began to run back to him. 

He found Sam in a matter of minutes, the kid was out of breath, bright red in the face, tears running down his cheeks, he looked terrified, like he was about to collapse on the spot. 

“Sam? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Derek asked in panic.

“Stiles! Something is wrong with Stiles!” Sam whimpered and Derek felt his heart stutter out of rhythm for a split second before he scooped Sam up and threw him on his back before racing back towards the house, praying that he was fast enough. He heard Stiles’ agonized screams a minute later, terrified when it trailed off and he could hear Stiles retching. The pack were all shouting, calling for Derek to hurry or shouting for Stiles to stop, Derek didn’t understand what was going on. Derek burst through the front door, lowering Sam to the floor, looking at the pack who were all standing exactly where they’d been when Derek left, whimpering helplessly, looking at him with pleading eyes. Derek looked to Stiles, saw the black lines on his skin, saw the pool of sludge by his feet, Stiles was doubled over in pain, his eyes squeezed shut tight, he was in agony, that much was obvious and instantly it all slotted in to place for Derek and guilt flooded through him as he moved forwards, grabbing Stiles’ arms to steady himself. 

“Oh god! God, Stiles, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean it. I take it back. They can move, you can all move, you can speak, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. I didn’t mean that. God, I’m so sorry, Jesus, fuck, Stiles, are you alright? Can you speak? Are you okay?” Derek whimpered as Stiles collapsed in to his arms and the entire pack surged forwards, moving to comfort Stiles who was shaking, trembling in his arms and Derek felt like he was going to be sick. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it, I didn’t want you to do that, god, I’m sorry Stiles, are you okay? Are you alright?” Derek said, his voice cracking as he fought back the urge to burst into tears. 

“I’m okay, I’m alright.” Stiles replied quietly, his voice hoarse from screaming, he waved his arm in exhaustion and the sludge that littered the carpet vanished, he managed to get to his feet shakily, he couldn’t believe how much that had taken out of him, maybe it was because he hadn’t slept last night, maybe it was because he’d already been fighting his magic to try and tell them about Gerard, maybe it was because he fought for so long, usually Kate wouldn’t allow him to fight an order for more than a few seconds, maybe it was a combination of a hundred different things, all he knew for sure what that he felt like he was about to fall over where he stood.

“Stiles, kiddo, are you sure you’re alright?” Noah asked. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Stiles said quietly, “Honestly, I’m alright, just tired.” He admitted. 

“I’m sorry Stiles, I wasn’t thinking, I didn’t mean to do that. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I was so stupid, I’m sorry.” Derek sobbed.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault, it’s this stupid magic and bindings, and, just, everything.” Stiles grumbled, rubbing at his eyes in exhaustion, he went to take a step forwards and the whole room spun dangerously in front of his eyes, he couldn’t help but be grateful when hands reached out from all directions to grab him and keep him upright, god, he was so tired, he thought if he just closed his eyes for a moment then he’d be okay, except, he found he didn’t have the energy to open his eyes again and he slipped into sleep. 

Derek felt panic begin to overwhelm him when Stiles collapsed, his weight falling against Derek’s chest as he went limp, the rest of the pack seemed just as worried until they realised that Stiles’ heart was still beating, he wasn’t dead, just unconscious, or, hopefully, he was just sleeping. 

Noah tried shaking Stiles gently to wake him up, Stiles grumbled almost silently, his eyes fluttered open the slightest bit and he looked at them, but his gaze was completely unfocused before he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

“Do we think he’s okay?” Scott whispered, looking around at the rest of the pack who all looked as uncertain as he felt. 

“I think he’s alright, just tired.” Melissa said a moment later, brushing her fingers along Stiles’ forehead, “He needs to rest.” 

“What happened? Why was he like that? It was like…it was like with her.” Sam muttered, tears still streaming down his cheeks. 

“It was my fault.” Derek said, feeling like his chest was being crushed by the weight of his guilt, “I ordered him…I didn’t realise…I didn’t mean that…it wasn’t an order…I didn’t mean it as an order…I mean I did but I didn’t mean he had to…I’m so sorry.” He sobbed. 

“It’s okay Derek, we all know you didn’t mean that Stiles actually had to listen to you.” Lydia said quietly although they all still looked horrified by what they’d just witnessed. 

“Why did he try to fight it? Why didn’t he just wait until you go back!?” Noah asked in frustration and Derek shrugged, he didn’t have an answer for that, other than the fact that Stiles was stubborn, he figured that it went against everything Stiles believed in to actually obey orders, especially after Kate. Derek didn’t blame him in the slightest, he just wished it hadn’t become an issue. He had to find a way to free Stiles. He just had to. 

They all agreed it would be a good idea to head up to bed, Sam wanted to sleep in with Stiles again and none of them really wanted to leave Stiles alone until he’d woken up and they were sure there were no side effects, so they decided they’d all pile in to Derek’s room again that night. 

Derek knew the pack didn’t blame him for what had happened, he’d said something in the heat of the moment and hadn’t thought it through, they knew it hadn’t been malicious, but still, Stiles was the one that suffered, Derek had known he could control Stiles’ actions and he’d still issued an order like that. He didn’t have the privilege of saying things without thinking, he had to be more careful. He lay awake long after everyone else had gone to sleep, looking across at Stiles and wishing he could fix this, wishing with everything he had that they could find a way to break the bindings. 

Derek didn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have done. He woke to Stiles screaming, sounding like someone was ripping him apart, his cries of agony were enough to startle Derek and the rest of the pack from their slumber, scrambling through the pillows and blankets and other pack members to make sure that Stiles was okay, that somebody wasn’t murdering him right there in their bed.

“Stiles, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s just a nightmare, you’re alright.” Noah was whispering reassurances to Stiles as the rest of the pack looked on in worry, Stiles was tangled in the blankets, his face was flushed, tears filling his eyes, he’d broken out in a cold sweat and his chest was heaving as he tried to calm his breathing, “It’s alright Stiles, I’m here, we’re here, it was only a dream, you’re okay.” Noah continued as Stiles patted at his chest as if to check himself for damage, as he gasped for breath and tried to come back to reality, his screams fading into silence as he realised that it had indeed been a nightmare and he was at the Hale house, the pack surrounding him, all looking at him with worry. 

“Sorry.” Stiles mumbled, almost jumping to his feet as he made a hasty retreat towards the bathroom. 

“Stiles! Wait!” Noah called after him, managing to grab Stiles’ arm just before he left the room, wrapping his other arm around him and pulling him in to a hug, “It’s okay kid, I’m here, it’s alright.” Noah whispered and Stiles froze for a moment before he broke, huge sobs making him tremble in his father’s arms as he completely fell apart, “It’s going to be okay, you’re safe, you’re home, it’s over, it’s over.” Noah comforted him as Stiles continued to sob in to his shoulder, too upset to get even a single word out without refreshing his tears.

“We’re all right here with you Stiles.” Scott whimpered, hugging Stiles’ other side and holding him as tightly as he could, “You’re safe, you’re okay.” He muttered quietly, finally, what must have been at least half an hour later, Stiles had calmed down enough that he had stopped sobbing, although he was still trembling silently and Derek wished he could help, wished he knew what he could say that would help. 

“Feeling better now kid?” Noah whispered and Stiles nodded, swiping at his cheeks as if to hide the evidence of his fear. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not really.” Stiles muttered. 

“Is that…does that happen often?” Boyd asked. 

“No.” Stiles lied, and all the wolves winced at the blatant lie, Stiles grimaced as he realised he’d been caught out, “Okay, yeah, I guess, they happen fairly regularly.” 

“How often is ‘fairly regularly’?” Peter queried. 

“I don’t know.” Stiles shrugged as casually as possible, “Most nights, I guess. Good job the rooms are soundproof or you guys would not be getting any sleep.” Stiles tried to joke, it fell flat, and he gritted his teeth in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be sorry. I get nightmares too, and you help me after mine, so we should help you after yours.” Sam said and Stiles looked on the verge of bursting into tears again.

“I can manage them.” Stiles replied. 

“Sure looked that way.” Jackson muttered sarcastically, Stiles blushed, turning his gaze to the ground “Just, you know, we’re a pack, we’ve got your back, let us help you if we can, however we can, can we help?” Stiles stared at him for a minute before shrugging again. 

“I don’t know, I mean, it’s kind of, I’ve, um, they’ve been going on a long time, it just used to be that I wouldn’t be allowed to sleep long enough for them to get that bad, and if I did, well, Kate thought it was funny. Then, erm, well, I got here, and, I’m allowed to sleep whenever I like which is great, but, it means, that I, um, that the dreams are pretty bad, and, I wake up with them, so…I don’t know, I guess it’s one of those things that need to be like, processed or whatever.” Stiles rambled. 

“Well, could you, maybe you’d be able to tell us about them? That’s supposed to help, isn’t it? Talking about them, figuring out what they represent, coming to terms with it or whatever?” Allison said. 

“I already know what they mean, it’s not,” He glanced at Sam nervously, “It’s not like there’s a giant teddy bear chasing me that’s supposed to represent the fact I couldn’t escape from her. You know? It’s pretty clear exactly what they mean.” He said. 

“She hurt you a lot, didn’t she?” Sam whispered, looking on the verge of tears, and Stiles looked at him in surprise before he moved to his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close, offering Sam the comfort he needed. 

“No, not really, I mean, yeah, she did, but, I’m okay, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m alright.” Stiles reassured him and Sam broke out into sobs. 

“But you woke up screaming and downstairs, there was all that sludge and stuff and you look so serious and sad sometimes, and I don’t want you to get hurt because you’re my alpha and I need to look after you so that you can keep being that.” Sam said, Stiles stared at him in shock before looking to Derek who shrugged as casually as he could, honestly, he agreed with Sam, Stiles was his Alpha too, he would always look to Stiles for advice, but it wasn’t like he could admit that to Stiles, he didn’t want to terrify him by explaining just how much Stiles meant to him. 

“I told him that he doesn’t really understand what it means yet…”

“I know what it means.” Sam said solemnly. “I trust Stiles. I know he’s always looking out for me. I know whatever he says, I’ll do, because it’ll be the right thing. That makes him my alpha. I mean, you’re my alpha too, but, you’re like, you’re both my alphas.” Sam said seriously while Stiles still stared at him in shock. 

“I can’t be an alpha Sam, I mean, I’m not a wolf, I can’t be your alpha. It’s lovely that you trust me, that you will listen to me, but, I’m not…Alpha’s are…It’s not that I don’t want to be, but, I mean, I can’t be.” 

“Why can’t you be?” Erica interrupted, “You’re my alpha.” 

“What?” Stiles spluttered. 

“You are my alpha. And Boyd’s as well. So, adding one more beta to the list isn’t that bad of a thing, right?” 

“I can’t be.” Stiles whispered, “I mean, I’m a caster but I’m still human. Okay, yeah I have magic, but, I’m not a wolf, I can’t even begin to understand how it feels to have your wolf inside you, I can’t be your alpha, you need a wolf.”

“No Stiles. We need you.” Boyd said, “We love Derek, we respect him, but, it’s like Sam said, Derek is our alpha, but, so are you.” 

“That’s not possible, is it?” Stiles asked, looking to Derek in confusion. 

“Actually, it kind of is. Erica and Boyd, I’ve known for a while that their loyalties changed, no, that’s the wrong word, it’s not that their loyalties changed, but, that night, the night you were taken, whatever happened in that basement, it bound them to you in some way, they’re alive because of you, their wolves know that, so, although, I’m still their alpha, they’ll listen to you too, so, it would probably be best if we stick together and stuff, I mean, like, if you wanted to leave town, the three of them would be torn between staying with me or leaving with you and whatever choice they made would feel wrong.”

“Wow.” Stiles muttered in awe. “Well, I mean, I’m not planning on going anywhere, I’m here for as long as you guys want me.” He said, still trying to process the knowledge that he was Sam, Erica and Boyd’s alpha. The thought terrified him, made him feel queasy and also amazed at the same time, that they put that much trust in him, it was mind-boggling and incredible and scary as hell. “I’ll do my best to be a good alpha to you guys, but, Derek should be the one you go to whenever you have anything to ask, and, if he can’t help you then I doubt that I’ll be able to, but, I’ll try.” 

“Does this kind of thing happen often? Like, is it common that wolves have two alphas?” Noah asked quietly and Derek shrugged. 

“It’s not as rare as you would think, although, usually, it would be the alpha and his or her mate.” Peter replied. 

“Um, right, okay, well, obviously, that’s not the case here.” Stiles said, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck nervously. “And, um, like, thanks for the pep talk and everything, this isn’t me running away, but I kind of need to go to the bathroom, so, I’m just going to go there…” He said, backing towards the door and pretty much running from the room. 

Stiles stared at himself in the mirror and tried to fight the nausea in his stomach, that anyone would look to him for answers made him feel sick to his stomach, he barely held it together for himself, how was he supposed to handle being able to look after anyone else. He did his best to hold back the panic attack that felt like it was about to overwhelm him, sliding down the bathroom wall until he was curled up on the floor and trying to breathe through the panic, the fear. He couldn’t fall apart like this, he had to be stronger than this, he had a pack that looked to him now. He wondered if this was how Derek felt when he first became alpha, he dismissed the thought instantly, he didn’t think Derek was ever afraid, or, he never showed his fear if he was, not that Stiles saw anyway. He couldn’t imagine Derek coming home at the end of a bad day and having a panic attack in the bathroom, he couldn’t imagine him having nightmares that made him feel like his entire body was being ripped apart by fear. No, to Stiles, Derek was fearless. Even when Kate had told Stiles to kill the pack, even when Derek had pleaded for Stiles to kill him and spare the others, he hadn’t been afraid, just angry. Stiles wished he had that ability. That he could ignore any fear and be brave. 

Stiles knew he was bound to Derek by his magic, but, if he was honest, even if he wasn’t, Derek was still somebody he looked up to, that he thought a lot of, before Kate, when he’d been in the basement with Gerard, he’d been convinced that Scott was going to come, but, he’d been even more certain that Derek was coming for him, Stiles was part of his pack, Derek was his alpha, he would come for Stiles, he would come for Erica and Boyd, he had to. When neither of them had shown up he’d been worried, then Gerard had taunted him about how he’d been keeping them occupied elsewhere and they weren’t coming, Stiles had accepted he was going to die, had accepted that he was going to be executed on his front lawn like some kind of traitor. He’d prayed that Scott and Derek wouldn’t blame themselves, that they’d realise it was Gerard’s fault, that he was the only one responsible. Then everything had changed, his dad had run out, he’d been shot, Stiles had healed him and then he’d been taken. 

For weeks, no, months, Stiles had been convinced that somebody was coming for him, that all he had to do was wait, he’d realised eventually that nobody was coming for him, and that he was stuck with Kate, that there was no escape, he guessed he’d lost faith in the pack, realised that he didn’t matter to them, that he would never be a priority for them. He’d been wrong. Kate had been lying and manipulating him the entire time, convincing him that the pack hated him, convincing the pack that Stiles wanted nothing to do with them. He couldn’t believe that he’d fallen for it. That he’d believed her. But he was home now, he knew the truth, and, honestly, despite everything he had been through in the past year, he felt the same now as he had done previously. Derek was his alpha, he knew that the pack would all come for him if there was an issue, he was certain of it. 

Stiles didn’t know how he was going to handle being an alpha to Sam, to Erica, to Boyd, but he knew he’d be able to look to Derek for help if he didn’t know what to do and that thought calmed him instantly. He didn’t head back in to the bedroom, knowing he couldn’t handle all of them staring at him, all of them waiting for him to scream himself awake again, he didn’t want to deal with that right now, instead he headed in to his own room, shutting the door and looking around at the paperwork scattered everywhere. To anyone else it would probably look like Stiles had grabbed a pile of paper and thrown it up in the air carelessly, allowing it to fall wherever it wanted, but Stiles knew better, his research may be scattered but it all made complete sense to him, there was a pattern. He headed over to the far corner on the opposite side of the window where he’d left off the previous evening and picked up the top piece of paper, re-reading the last paragraph, about magic users in ancient Greece being worshipped as demi-gods, it was completely useless information, but, Stiles hoped that if he kept researching eventually he would find something worthwhile, he had to. 

The revelation that Gerard was still alive, that Stiles knew something they didn’t but couldn’t tell them about it made Derek feel sick to his stomach, combined with the orders incident earlier and Stiles’ nightmare, Derek didn’t think he’d be able to go back to sleep. He hated that Stiles retreated to his own room rather than return back to the bedroom, thankfully most of the pack had gone back to sleep by then so he didn’t have to answer any questions from Sam as to why Stiles hadn’t come back yet.

Derek wanted nothing more than to free Stiles, to break the bindings, not only for Stiles’ sake, but for the packs, they could find out what Stiles knew, what Gerard was planning, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t get the thought of Gerard coming back out of his mind, what if he killed the pack? What if he killed Stiles? Derek climbed out of the bed without disturbing anyone and headed downstairs, snatching up the first book he could find and beginning to read. His priority, before anything else, had to be to free Stiles, it was the only way that Stiles would be able to warn them of any approaching threats. 

Derek heard Stiles head to the bathroom hours later, and, a little while after that, head down the stairs towards Derek. He glanced up from his book once Stiles entered the room, nodding at him in greeting before he headed in to the kitchen to grab breakfast, Derek followed after him, settling in to a chair and pursing his lips as he tried to think about what he wanted to say. 

“You could just spit it out you know.” Stiles said with his back still to Derek and Derek flushed slightly before smiling fondly. “Come on Der, obviously you’ve been thinking hard about something, want to share?” 

”I’ve been thinking about what you said last night, about Gerard.” Derek began and Stiles tensed instantly, “I know you can’t speak about it, you know, with the orders and stuff, but, I just, I’m, can you tell me…do you know…are the pack safe? Will he come after us?” 

Stiles bit his lip nervously, opening and closing his mouth a few times before gritting his teeth and shaking his head, ignoring the black lines appearing on his skin. Derek hated that he was doing this to Stiles, but he had to know, he had to know if Gerard was going to come after them, he’d do whatever it took to protect his pack. 

“They aren’t…he won’t…he won’t come for them.” Stiles managed to grit out before Derek nodded and Stiles turned back to his breakfast, “I’m sorry I can’t say more.” 

“I know, I know you’d tell us if you could, I know that Stiles, you don’t need to be sorry, there’s nothing to be sorry for.” 

“It’s the stupid bindings.” Stiles cursed and Derek nodded. 

“I know that too, Stiles, it’s okay, so long as we’re safe, that’s all that matters. I mean, we’re going to find a way to free you, we will, but, so long as I don’t need to worry about Gerard showing up and killing our pack then I’ll deal with him when or if he makes an appearance.” Derek said and Stiles tensed, gritting his teeth as if he wanted to say more before he sighed in defeat and nodded. 

“There’s more, there’s so much more…” Stiles began before his voice cut out and the lines appeared on his skin, “Forget it.” He sighed with frustration. 

“I’m sorry Stiles, I’m so sorry you’re in this position.” 

“It’s not your fault dude. It’s just one of those things, nobody could have known that I’d have magic and stuff, plus, from what I’ve read, any kind of caster with some sort of power, there’s always the risk that people want to bind them, really, if it hadn’t have been Kate, it might have ended up being someone else.” 

“Or you could have come in to your powers and figured out how to use them without someone torturing you and making you their slave.” Derek grimaced and Stiles shrugged. 

“No guarantee, and, besides, we can’t live thinking about what if’s, we’ve already discussed this. The fact is, I’m bound to you until we find a way to reverse it or break it or whatever, once we do, then I’ll be able to tell you everything, but, until then, we just have to carry on with our normal lives.” Stiles said, glancing to the doorway and smiling when Sam appeared. “Hey buddy, do you want breakfast?” Stiles pushed his bowl towards an empty seat at the table and Sam studied it for a moment before pushing the bowl back towards Stiles.

“I can make my own.” Sam grumbled tiredly, heading to the cupboard and pouring himself a bowl of cereal, “You need to make sure you eat too.” He said and Stiles gaped at him before nodding and picking up his spoon. 

“Okay kid, I will do. I’ll take you to school this morning, but, I’m staying behind after school today, Danny’s going to help me with some homework, meaning I won’t be back home straight away, but, I’ll be back in time to tell you a story before bed if you want?” 

“Who’s Danny? Have I met him before?” Sam asked in curiosity and Stiles laughed. 

“No, he’s a friend from school.” 

“A boyfriend?” Sam queried and Stiles almost spat his cereal back in to his bowl. 

“No, no, no of course not. He’s tutoring me, that’s all.” Stiles said, looking to Derek for help, Derek was just staring at him in shock, “I mean, I was, when I was, I haven’t really been to school for a little while…”

“Because of Kate.” Sam input.

“Yeah, because of Kate, well, because of that, I missed a lot of school work, and my grades aren’t the best so, I need extra help, which Lydia is helping me with, but, Danny has offered to help me too, so, we’re going to stay behind after school, just once or twice a week, until I get my grades up a bit.” Stiles explained. 

“Oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense.” Sam nodded. “So long as your back for bed time, I want to hear more about Anbraxas and her knight please?” 

“Sure thing kid, I’ll definitely be back before then.” Stiles reassured him, Sam beamed brightly before starting on his cereal while Derek just looked at Stiles with awe, he loved Stiles, god he loved him so much, and seeing how he was with Sam, seeing how fantastic he was with him, Derek couldn’t help but imagine how great Stiles would be as a mate, as a father to Sam. He stilled, that was ridiculous. He couldn’t be thinking of Stiles like that, not now, not when Stiles was still bound to him. When he told Stiles about his feelings for him, it had to be that Stiles was a free man, there was no way Derek could do it before then, it just wasn’t fair, on either of them. 

Derek spent all day reading as much lore as he possibly could on the bindings put in place on casters but he didn’t find anything useful, if he was honest, as desperate as he was to find a way to free Stiles, he was beginning to think they’d never find a way to do it and the thought of Stiles forever being forced to do whatever Derek desired, it made him feel sick to his stomach. He’d been thinking about Stiles’ nightmares all day, hearing him screaming like that, like someone was murdering him, like he was in complete agony and all he could do was sob and scream his way through it, it made Derek want to hold him close until Stiles forgot all about his dream, but, Derek didn’t know how to approach that situation either, especially knowing Stiles wasn’t comfortable talking about it. 

He gave up on research when he headed to pick Sam up from school, surprised to find that his teacher wanted to speak to Derek, Sam sat in a chair outside the classroom to wait for him and Derek sat in the chair opposite the teacher feeling like he was back in school and about to be scolded for misbehaving again. 

“So, Ms Lyngard, you said you needed to discuss Sam’s behaviour?” Derek asked nervously. 

“Please, call me Diane.” She smiled and Derek felt himself relax slightly, giving her a brief smile in return. 

“Right, Diane, so, is there something concerning you about Sam?” Derek queried. 

“I’m curious about Sam’s living arrangements.” Diane began, “I mean, I know you’ve explained that Sam’s parents were tragically killed, if the rumours are to be believed, it was at the hands of the same woman who kidnapped the Sheriff’s son.”

“Yeah, I guess, well, um, that’s true. Is there a problem with that? He talks to us about them all the time, and I’ve suggested grief counselling a couple of times but Melissa thinks he’s doing okay, you know, he doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of bottling it up or anything, do you think he is? Has something happened that makes you think that?” Derek asked with concern and Diane shook her head. 

“No, no, by all accounts, Sam seems like a healthy, happy young man, he’s making friends, his grades are good, he socialises, he answers any questions I ask politely even if he doesn’t know the answer, there’s nothing in that regard that raises any concerns.” 

“So, I’m sorry, I don’t understand, what are you worried about then?” Derek said. 

“Well, Sam seems to have developed a strong relationship with you and with Stiles. He worships the two of you.” Diane began and Derek shrugged, he didn’t see it that way, sure, Sam loved Stiles that much was obvious to any of them, but, he didn’t know if Sam felt the same way about him, “The worry I have is that, well, you both seem to have become surrogate parents for him, and, I’m curious about your own relationship with Stiles, I’m sure you’re aware of the rumours surrounding you and your friends, that you all live together in that house, that you rarely socialise with people outside of the people you already live with, I’m wanting to make sure that Sam isn’t being exposed to anything that isn’t suitable for a child to witness?” 

Derek blushed brightly, unsure of how to answer, spluttering slightly as he tried to come up with an answer that he hoped was suitable. 

“No, no, it was, Noah’s house was repossessed to pay the medical bills and I offered them a place to stay because there’s space, and, the others, well, none of them have great home lives, there’s nothing like that going on, I mean, it’s not like we’re a cult or anything like that, it’s just, they’re my friends and they needed somewhere to stay, it’s not like I’m short on space or money, so, naturally, I offered them somewhere to live, and, we’re all happy with the arrangement, but, everyone has their own rooms, Sam has his own room, and there’s kind of like an unspoken agreement that if someone goes to their room it’s because they need their own space and they’re left alone, so, you know, it’s, we’re not a cult, I’m not like brainwashing him into anything, we’re just, like, one big family.” He stammered, blushing furiously, Diane smiled at him brightly. 

“I was certain you weren’t a cult but thank you for clarifying.” She grinned and Derek tried to smile back when he heard the blatant lie in her words, she obviously believed he ran some kind of cult that no doubt sacrificed babies to the devil or something equally as ridiculous.

“Sure thing.” He said, “So, is that everything?” 

“You and Stiles? Is there something going on there?” Diane asked lightly. 

“As in?” 

“Are you dating? Or are you single?” Diane queried. 

“Um, no, we’re not dating. He’s a friend.” Derek replied.

“So, you’re single?” Diane pressed, Derek rubbed a hand across the back of his neck uncomfortably. 

“Yeah, I guess so…”

“Meaning you’d be free to take me to dinner one night this week?” She smiled. 

“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea, I mean, you’re Sam’s teacher.”

“So? I can keep my professional and personal life separate.” 

“I’m sure you can, but, I mean, it’s just…” Derek stammered awkwardly. 

“I think it would be great, how does eight tomorrow night sound? I’ll give you my address.” 

“No. I mean. Sorry. But, no. I, um…”

“Come on Derek, it could be fun, we’re both young, free and single, what’s the harm?” 

“I just, I, um, Sam might get confused…”

“Sam is a smart boy, there’s nothing to get confused over.”

“Well, you see, the thing is, I might not be dating Stiles, but, um, I’d like to be?” Derek replied lamely and Diane’s face fell, looking disappointed before she pressed her lips in a firm line and nodded tightly. 

“Of course. I should have realised. Obviously dating a parent of a student is completely unprofessional, I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” She said, all lightness gone from her voice and instead she returned to a more professional manner. 

“So, are we, erm, are we done here?” Derek asked quietly and Diane pursed her lips for a moment before speaking. 

“In my professional opinion, I would suggest that perhaps Sam distance himself from Stiles slightly. He’s got a strong attachment to him, but Sam is still growing, as his foster parent, you need to ensure he is exposed to people with well-rounded emotional scales, that will help him to learn and develop, spending a prolonged amount of time with someone as emotionally damaged as Stiles…”

“Stiles isn’t emotionally damaged!” Derek snapped angrily. 

“Well, if the stories are to be believed, he pinned another boy to the table just for suggesting that he was kidnapped…”

“No, he pinned him to the table because the guy was being an asshole and suggesting Stiles was involved in the shooting of his father. Considering what he’s been through, he’s managing just fine and he’s getting better all the time, he just needs time and patience and not for small minded, judgemental assholes like you pretending that you know everything about him just because you listened to some gossip. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to take my son home and make sure he does his homework before we take him out to the preserve and make him dance naked around a fire pit while we sacrifice some new born babies, but don’t worry, he’ll still be on time for school in the morning.” Derek snarled loudly, storming towards the door and slamming it behind him. 

Sam stood up from his chair looking furious and Derek slung an arm around his shoulder before leading him out of the school and towards his car. 

“I can’t believe she said that about Stiles!” Sam huffed as he threw his bag in the back seat and slid into the passenger seat of the car. 

“How much of that did you hear?” Derek muttered, furious with her for saying that, furious with himself for losing his temper, furious with everybody who was spreading rumours and gossip about Stiles when he already had so much going on in his life. 

“Just the end, I mean, I heard her say that it wasn’t professional for her to date a parent of a student, and then she started saying all those mean things about Stiles, I hate her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about, I’m going to tell her tomorrow that she’s stupid.” 

“Just ignore her Sam, she’s not stupid, otherwise she wouldn’t be a teacher, but…you remember what Stiles taught you? That people will always treat you badly, so you have to be better, you have to be more human than them, well, this is one of those cases, you have to be better than her, so, just ignore her. She’s only jealous.”

“Jealous? Of what?” Sam asked. 

“Jealous of the fact that we all live together and are happy and she’s just stuck in some dead-end job, fawning over people who won’t ever be interested in her because she’s got a small heart.” Derek said, trying to rein in his anger but he was struggling, he wanted to go back there and tell her how perfect Stiles was, how he smiled sometimes and it was such a beautiful thing to see that Derek wished he could see Stiles smile all the time, he wanted to tell her about the stories that Stiles told to Sam, the way he healed his bumps and bruises without a second thought because he couldn’t bear for Sam to be hurt, the way Stiles would protect Sam with his life without hesitation just because. Instead, he bit his tongue and tried to get himself under control before they arrived home. 

“I think she’s jealous of the fact that you love Stiles more than you’ll ever love her.” Sam muttered, obviously just as angry as Derek was. 

“Probably.” Derek replied before pausing, “Sam, I know you’re annoyed right now, I am too, but we can’t let Stiles know how I feel about him. Not yet, okay?” 

“Why not? I mean, then he can go in there and yell at her for asking you out and do some magic and like, turn her into a crab or something?” Sam said and Derek laughed before turning serious. 

“The thing is, how things are at the moment, I don’t want Stiles to think that he has to do anything just because I could order him to…”

“But you wouldn’t order him to do anything.” Sam argued. 

“I’d try very hard not to, but you saw what happened last night, that was just because I wasn’t thinking when I spoke, and, I couldn’t risk that happening again. Before I can tell Stiles how I feel, we have to find a way to free him, meaning, you can’t tell him, not yet, okay?” 

“Fine.” Sam grumbled, “Can I still tell him what she said about him being emotionally damaged and get him to turn her in to a crab?” Derek laughed fondly before shaking his head. 

“Magic has to stay a secret, Stiles can’t go turning people in to crabs just because they say something we don’t like, besides, Stiles might get upset if we tell him what she said, so, maybe, we don’t tell him? Is that okay?” 

“Okay.” Sam replied, “But, I still think she’s stupid.” 

“Me too.” Derek agreed as he pulled in to the drive. 

By the time Stiles got home it was already dark and his head was pounding, he’d spent all day at school trying to focus on what he was supposed to be learning and instead he kept thinking of a way to try and get around Gerard’s orders, to tell Derek what could happen, what danger they could and most likely would be in, except he still hadn’t figured a way around it. He’d met Danny after his last class of the day, waving the others away as they headed to the library to study, algebra had never been his favourite subject, but, combine it with missing a year of lessons and the fact his head felt like it was going to explode, it wasn’t a good day for Stiles. He tried to concentrate, he really did, but after two hours even Danny agreed it just wasn’t going to happen. 

“Don’t worry about it Stiles, we all have off days. Maybe you should just head home and go to bed, we’ll try again tomorrow night?” 

“I can’t tomorrow. I promised I’d go watch Sam’s soccer match.” Stiles said and Danny grinned at him. 

“You are kind of adorable you know?” Danny said and Stiles turned to look at him in surprise. 

“What?” Stiles asked in confusion. 

“I mean, like, with Sam, you love him a lot.” 

“So?” Stiles said, still puzzled. 

“Well, you know that saying, ‘it’s hard to resist a bad boy who’s a good man’, it kind of applies to you.” Danny explained and Stiles stared at him like he’d lost his mind, “You know, because you come across as a badass, with the leather jacket and the whole kicking Theo’s ass without even trying, and people are kind of a little scared of you because you sometimes look like you want to rip people’s throats out just for looking at you, but, then, people see you with Sam and that kid looks at you like you’re the best thing since sliced bread and you’re so good with him, like, it’s so obvious that you’d do anything for him. So, you’re a bad boy, but, you’re also a good man, therefore, it’s attractive.” Danny continued and Stiles didn’t know how to even begin to respond to that one. 

“Um, thanks?” Stiles muttered wishing his head wasn’t hurting so much that he could try and figure out what the hell Danny was talking about. 

“I mean, it’s not just me, you should hear about how half the school talks about you, I mean, anyone who is remotely interested in guys wants to get fucked by you and any guy who isn’t interested in guys just wants to be you so they can get the attention that you get, it’s like, everyone wants to kiss you or be you.” 

“You forgot kill me.” Stiles input, he thought he might be in shock, “I mean, the saying goes ‘they’ll want to kiss you, kill you or be you’, doesn’t it?” 

“Yeah, it does, but, nobody in their right mind wants to kill you.”

“Unfortunately, I know plenty of people who aren’t in their right minds.” Stiles muttered.

“Um, well, I’m in my right mind, as far as I know anyway, and I definitely don’t want to kill you or be you.” Danny said and Stiles stared at him in shock. 

“You want to kiss me?” Stiles asked, gaping at him as Danny laughed. 

“I’d like to do a lot more than kiss you.” Danny grinned. 

“But…you don’t find me attractive, I asked you that before, and, you don’t find me attractive like, at all!” 

“That was then, this is now.” Danny shrugged casually, “I find you very attractive and I’d very much like to kiss you and do a whole lot more than just kiss you, but, if you’re not interested, then I won’t push.” 

“Um, thanks I guess, but, yeah, no, I don’t, I’m not, I, erm…” Stiles paused taking a deep breath, “I’ve heard the rumours going around, you know, everybody knows I got kidnapped and spent a year getting my ass handed to me by Kate Argent. But, there’s, I don’t want to be involved with anyone, not yet anyway. I just, there’s a lot that happened, and, well, I don’t think I’m ready to be in any kind of relationship or anything.” He confessed and Danny looked at him for a moment before nodding. 

“I get it, don’t worry about it, just, should you decide you are looking, I’m available and more than willing.” Danny teased and Stiles nodded. 

“Thanks man.” He replied before packing up his books and heading out to the car park, “So, what about Thursday? Could we do then? Maybe my head won’t be so mashed?” 

“Yeah sure thing. I’ll see you in the morning.” Danny smiled, jumping in his own car and heading home as Stiles drove his jeep back to the Hale house.

Sam was waiting up for him and Stiles ran his fingers through his hair in greeting, moving past him towards the kitchen to grab something to eat, hoping that some food would help to ease the throbbing in his head.

“There’s stew in the pot.” Peter called out and Stiles headed over, filling himself a bowl before walking back to the living room and settling in one of the available seats. 

“Find anything useful?” He asked casually and Scott shrugged. 

“Not really, there’s a passage here about how casters could sometimes be loaned out to other owners, but they’d always revert to their original owner eventually, we already knew that though, since the whole ‘having to follow Matt’s orders when you weren’t with Kate’ thing.” Scott mumbled and Stiles nodded, trying not to feel like the food in his mouth had turned to ash, he thought he was going to throw up, thinking about them, thinking about the orders Matt had made him follow, thinking about the things Kate had forced him to do. He wanted to tell them, he wanted to say so many things, explain so much, but he couldn’t, he wasn’t allowed, he couldn’t even tell them that what Scott was saying was important, he grimaced, gritting his teeth and swallowing the stew.

“I…” He opened his mouth and shut it rapidly when his voice cut off, nodding instead, “Yeah, you do already know that.” He said instead. 

“Other than that, we haven’t had much luck, there’s a couple of pages about some of the things the original casters could do.” Isaac added. 

“Original casters?” Stiles queried, that wasn’t something he’d heard of before. 

“Yeah, so, according to this book, way back at like the dawn of existence of whatever…”

“You mean as far back as the records go.” Lydia interrupted. 

“Right, whatever, point being, there were whole families that were all casters, so, nobody really knows where magic came from, but, way back then there was a man and woman who had magic, they married each other, and their kids had magic and basically, they ended up being like a royal family. Like, people full on worshipped them like Gods. Anyway, they had loads of magic, like, part the red sea kind of magic…”

“You’re telling me that Moses was a caster?” Stiles laughed. 

“Of course he was, how else do you explain him turning water to blood? Or his staff to a snake? He was a caster, definitely.” Cora chipped in. 

“Okay, so, say he was, was he one of these original casters?” Stiles asked. 

“Sort of.” Isaac nodded enthusiastically, “So, they were worshipped, but it couldn’t go on like that forever. To try and keep their magic pure, they had children with their own family, like, brothers and sisters and stuff, and, if the children survived, they never had magic. People were convinced that the magic was going to die out.” 

“So why didn’t it?” Derek asked in curiosity. 

“Well, that’s where the binding rituals came in, one man, his name was Jeroboam, well, he came up with a way to capture a caster, he kidnapped her, took her out of the city and kept her as his prisoner…” Jackson explained, looking a little repulsed by what he was saying.

“It doesn’t say what her name was, but Jeroboam used the binding ritual to force her to do his will and he, um, well, it doesn’t say it specifically, but, they married and she bore him several children over the next few years. He became King of Israel. Everyone feared him because his wife would punish anyone who annoyed him, he was poisoned on the eve of his first son’s tenth birthday and his wife took her children and fled in to the desert, never to be seen or heard from in Israel again.” Allison explained. 

“The original man and woman died of old age, none of their surviving grandchildren had magic and so the children decided they would basically have kids with non-magic people and see if they could carry on the magic that way. There’s a few passages about how it wasn’t always consensual and how a lot of the human women died during childbirth. However, they found that the women casters who had sex with a normal man, managed to get pregnant. It was kind of decided that any male casters could only have children with female casters, otherwise the woman would die in childbirth.” 

“Right.” Stiles nodded numbly, feeling a bit queasy. 

“So, anyway, the kids that were born, only a few of them ended up showing magic and none of them had the same levels of magic that their parents had, like, it had been watered down, so, they did their best to try and increase that, in a lot of horrific ways such as uncles having sex with their nieces who were barely old enough to get pregnant so let’s not discuss that in depth at all. When that didn’t work, they started experimenting on people without magic, seeing if they could somehow force them to have magic, it worked in a few cases but lots of people died and the few it did work on still didn’t have anywhere near the same level of magic as the original casters.” Erica added. 

“Okay, so, the original casters died and their magic has gradually being getting watered down as the generations go on, apart from the people that they experimented on who were never as powerful to begin with?” Stiles asked in clarification. 

“No.” Peter beamed. “So, the children of the original casters basically weakened their magic by pillaging and raping and so on, and eventually their magic died out completely…”

“But you just said…” Stiles began. 

“Except for Jeroboam’s wife.” Peter continued as if Stiles hadn’t spoken, “She left the city with her three children, two sons and a daughter, the oldest had just turned ten and although it’s not confirmed, we believe he was the one responsible for his father’s death, after seeing the way his father treated his mother, a prisoner, forced to do things against her will, he was so enraged that he used his magic to poison his father and in turn, created the challenging duel. His mother was no longer bound to Jeroboam, instead she was bound to her son, so she took them out of the city and in to Greece.” 

“But isn’t that where the original challenging duel came from?” Sam asked. 

“That was the record we found of it, but it’s not to say that it was created there. Now, the children had seen the damage a binding spell could do and they had seen the damage that had been inflicted on their mother, they were all loving and kind and they married people who they loved, they all had children with their partners, including the males with their wives who were not casters themselves. Their children only seemed to grow in power as the generations went on, each generation more powerful than the one before. All of them generous, kind and never willing to hurt others for their own benefit.” Peter finished. 

“Shouldn’t that mean that they are still out there somewhere then?” Stiles queried. 

“Unfortunately not.” Boyd muttered quietly. 

“One of the great-great grandkids, Apheidas, he wanted power, he was powerful enough that he could hurt people and he decided he wanted to be king, as his great-great grandfather was before him. He knew his cousins, aunts and uncles would try and stop him, so he killed them all apart from one who managed to escape and flee the country. Apheidas became king but all of his kids, all of whom were born after he’d murdered his family, didn’t show any sign of magic. Somebody found the binding spell that Jeroboam used originally and bound Apheidas, after that, any person who ever showed any signs of magic was bound like a prisoner rather than living like a King and, a while after that, somebody must have found the challenging duel that Jeroboam’s son had used and it became common knowledge.” Lydia continued, “The one who escaped, Maia, returned to Israel and spent the rest of her life working the fields around her home, she had two children, both whom possessed magic, one died as a young man from an unspecified cause, her daughter continued Maia’s work, eventually married and birthed a son. The stories go a bit vague then, it says how the next generation was born without magic, the generation after that one child had it and one didn’t, basically magic would vanish for a few generations and then re-appear after a while. Each time it reappeared in Maia’s bloodline it was stronger than the previous generation and everyone with magic seemed to treat others with kindness. If they didn’t, their magic would never be passed to the next generation.”

“Eventually, the non-casters that had been experimented on, they passed it on to their children, some were stronger, some were weaker, nobody really knew how it worked and it wasn’t true magic, not like Maia’s decedents, but it didn’t stop people binding them. Then magic started to get rarer and harder to find, there were barely more than a handful of casters in the entire world at some points and they were all bound to somebody or another. Then it disappeared completely for a while, there’s a few centuries where there’s no records of anybody having any kind of magic.” Jackson said. 

“So why have I got it now then?” Stiles muttered. 

“Well, I have a couple of ideas about that.” Peter said, “Firstly, you aren’t the only caster in the world, there’s witches and wiccans and druids and lots of people like that, there’s even a few that sound like they could well be casters, although they don’t sound like they’re anywhere near your levels of power, if we traced their bloodlines then perhaps we could link them to the original casters but there’s no guarantee, most likely I would think they are linked to the people that the original casters children’s experimented on, not true magic, only a shadow of it. Anyway, my belief is that, somewhere along the line, your blood is somehow linked to Maia’s. That you have only grown in power from the generations before you and that is why you are capable of so much.” 

“It makes sense.” Noah nodded. 

“No, it doesn’t, if I have magic because of my bloodline, you or mom should have had magic.” Stiles argued. 

“No, it’s known to skip entire generations, just because it’s in your blood, it doesn’t mean your mom or dad should have had it, or your grandparents, or even great-grandparents.” Chris said. 

“But then why did I get it?” Stiles asked. 

“We don’t know kid, I don’t know that we’ll ever know, for some reason, you were born with magic. Anyway, knowing where it all came from doesn’t matter, what matters is that we find a way to free you from the bindings.” Noah said and Stiles nodded silently, obviously lost in thought. 

“More importantly, if it’s in your blood, perhaps that’s why your blood causes such a reaction if others are exposed to it?” Peter suggested and Stiles tensed, feeling nauseous. 

“Maybe.” He muttered quietly, “Anyway, it’s not important right now, what is important right now is you getting to bed mister, you have school in the morning.” 

“So do you.” Sam pouted, “And I don’t want to go to school, Ms Lyngard is mean.”

“Mean? Why?” Stiles asked, instantly getting defensive at the thought of somebody upsetting Sam. 

“She said…” Sam started and Derek cleared his throat, Sam glanced to him before closing his mouth and blushing slightly, “Doesn’t matter.” 

“No, it does, what did she say? Did she upset you?” Stiles pressed. 

“It was nothing, really, Sam’s just annoyed at her, but I’ve spoken to her, cleared things up, it won’t be an issue.” Derek interrupted. 

“What was nothing? What happened?” Stiles asked. 

“She wanted Derek to go out with her and he told her no and it annoyed me.” Sam said, “I don’t want my teacher to be going out with Derek, that would mean that she’d be over here all the time and it would suck.” He continued and Stiles grinned. 

“I agree, I’d really hate it if one of my teachers was here all the time too, good job Derek said no then isn’t it?” He teased and Sam nodded solemnly. “Are you sure that’s all? You still look upset?” 

“Yeah, that’s all.” Sam sighed heavily, “Can you tell me a story now?” 

“What’s the magic word?” Stiles said. 

“Abracadabra.” Sam replied and Stiles let out a bright laugh. 

“I meant ‘please’ but that’ll do.” He replied before heading up the stairs with Sam, he told him more of Anbraxas’ tales, travelling the country with her knight, until, eventually Sam slipped off to sleep. What Stiles really wanted to do was go in to his room and try and get as much sleep as he possibly could, instead, he trudged back down the stairs and sat back down where he had been before, watching as the rest of the pack spoke with eagerness about the other things they’d discovered that day. Stiles felt like screaming, there was so much he wanted to tell them, so much that they already knew but they hadn’t connected the dots, god, if he could just tell them, if he could just break the bindings.

“Stiles? You okay kid?” Noah asked and Stiles broke out of his trance, nodding quickly. 

“Yeah, fine, just tired.”

“How did you get on with Danny?” Jackson asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“I don’t think I’m any further along with algebra than I was before. I’ll keep trying.” 

“He text me.” Jackson added. 

“Okay?” Stiles replied in confusion. 

“He says you did well, considering you spent the year ‘getting your ass handed to you by Kate Argent’, that’s what you told him? I mean, we’re not even going to attempt to keep up the lie that you were with your aunt?” 

“What’s the point? I mean, everyone suspects the truth, Theo seems to be spreading it around to anyone with ears and, sure, I’d prefer people didn’t know, but that’s not going to happen, so, I might as well own it.” Stiles shrugged. 

“You’re right, besides, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and you only got your ass handed to you because she forced you not to fight back or to stay still when you had the upper hand. In a fair fight, you could kick anyone’s ass.” Scott said furiously. 

“Maybe I would do okay against other humans, but with you guys, I’d probably have to use a bit of magic.” Stiles replied, “Anyway, it’s no big deal, I only told Danny because he was talking some rubbish about half the school wanting to either ‘kiss me or be me’ and then I made some joke about the rest of them wanting to kill me and he was saying he definitely wasn’t in that category and that he would be happy to do ‘a lot more than kiss’ me, so I sort of explained that, you know, dating anybody is way down my priority list right now, first I just want to adapt to everything, you know? Like, I’ve only just started to accept that you guys don’t hate me or I don’t annoy you so much that you were happy to leave me with Kate, plus, Sam needs stability and stuff, I don’t want to go out dating somebody when he’s waiting on me for whatever, so, yeah, I tried to explain to Danny that I don’t want to be involved with anybody just yet and he said it was cool, which was good I guess, I’m still almost certain he was just messing with me because I really don’t think that he actually thinks I’m attractive, and even if he somehow miraculously does, there’s no way in hell half the school think it too!” Stiles rambled, blushing slightly when he realised the pack were all staring at him. 

“You’re right, he was lying.” Lydia agreed and Stiles nodded solemnly. 

“I figured as much.” 

“I mean, ‘half the school’, that’s ridiculous, I’d definitely put it around the ninety-eight percent mark, it’s kind of unbelievable how much people talk about you, about wanting to date you, or wishing they looked like you, especially considering nobody even knew who you were last year.” She continued and Stiles gaped at her. 

“What?” He managed to gasp out. 

“Come on Stiles, you have to realise how people stare at you?” Scott commented. 

“Um, yeah, because they’re trying to figure out exactly how much of a freak I am!” Stiles replied and Scott scoffed with amusement. 

“Yeah, okay, keep telling yourself that. Honestly, the last week I have heard more about your ass than any normal person would want to. Literally, I heard one girl writing a freaking song about it, don’t be surprised if she starts singing it to you at lunch because she reckons it’s a sure fire way to get you to fall for her, seriously ‘every guy wants a song writing about their ass Susie, you’re stupid if you don’t realise that’.” Scott continued.

“Yeah I heard that too!” Isaac said excitedly, “Wasn’t it something like ‘Stiles, oh Stiles, your eyes makes my heart skip a beat…’” 

“’And your ass makes me want to weep, because you’re so fine I want you to be mine…’” Cora sang badly, Stiles tried to keep a straight face, but he failed miserably and burst out laughing which set everyone else off. 

“Oh god.” Stiles said, trying to stop laughing long enough to catch his breath, he hadn’t laughed so hard in so long, it felt fantastic. Finally, at least ten minutes later, they’d all managed to calm down enough that they could speak. “Well, that’s mortifying.” 

“Wait until she decides to sing it to you.” Allison grinned and Stiles shook his head. 

“I think she’ll lose her voice the second she tries, and, if she doesn’t, I’ll make sure she does.” He said, his fingertips flickering with magic as he smirked and Lydia shrugged. 

“That’s one way to stop her.” 

“Anyway, I’m kind of beat and there’s been a lot to take in, so I’m going to head to bed.” Stiles said, the rest of the pack nodding in agreement as they headed upstairs. Slowly they split up, moving to their own rooms. Derek wandered in to his own room, he thought he’d managed to keep his jealously under check, he knew Danny was right, Stiles was amazing, and he shouldn’t be surprised that other people had realised it to, he would just prefer that he was the one that Stiles was close to, he let out a few deep breaths, getting his emotions under control, Derek stared at the empty bed for a few minutes before he went to Stiles’ door and knocked.

“Hi.” Derek said awkwardly when Stiles opened the door, he was straightening out his t-shirt, as if he’d pulled it off and then thrown it back on again in a rush and Derek felt his breath catch slightly at how gorgeous Stiles was. 

“Hey, you okay?” Stiles asked in confusion. 

“Yeah, um, can I come in for a minute?” Derek asked and Stiles stared at him in befuddlement before opening the door wider and granting Derek entry. Derek glanced around at the piles of paperwork in surprise, it was everywhere, including Stiles’ bed, Derek was beginning to get the feeling that Stiles really didn’t sleep that much. 

“Sorry, I was researching and stuff, but it turns out you guys found way more stuff than I did.” Stiles admitted sheepishly and Derek shrugged. 

“We obviously haven’t found the important things though, not yet, but it feels like we’re getting closer.” Derek replied. 

“It’ll take time, but I know we’re all trying as hard as we can, I’m sure something will turn up and if it doesn’t, then, we’ll deal with it.” Stiles said. 

“Yeah, exactly, but we will find a way to fix this Stiles, I know we will.” Derek said solemnly and Stiles nodded before pausing. 

“So, we’re both in agreement that we’re going to do our best to fix this and everything, which, um, I’m kind of confused, like, could this have waited until morning?” Stiles asked uncertainly and Derek blushed. 

“Right, yeah, um, right.” Derek nodded, “I, um, god, I don’t know how to say this without sounding like an idiot.” Derek continued and Stiles stared at him before clearing his throat. 

“Okay, well, try it anyway, I’ll tell you if you sound like an idiot.” Stiles replied and Derek grinned fondly. 

“Alright, well, what I wanted to say is, um, your nightmares.” Derek began and Stiles tensed, “I just, I know you have them, I know you don’t sleep nearly as much as you should do, as you need to, but, what I wanted to say is, it’s not an order, so, don’t take it as one, don’t take it as you have to do it if you don’t want to, but, well, next time you have a nightmare, maybe you’d be willing to come talk to me about it? Just, I don’t know, talking is supposed to help, so, if you want to talk, I just, I want you to know you can come to talk to me, and I don’t care about, like, it doesn’t matter what time it is, if you wake me up or not, I want you to come to me, if you want to, if that’s okay?” Derek rambled. Stiles stared at him for a solid minute, his mouth hanging open in shock before he blushed and nodded repeatedly. 

“Yeah, sure, okay, that’s, um, thanks man.” Stiles stammered in embarrassment. 

“Okay, well, I’ll leave you to it, but, I mean it, you know, if you want to come talk, or even if it’s just you don’t want to be alone or whatever, I’m right next door.” Derek replied, already moving towards the door and praying that Stiles couldn’t hear his heart that seemed to be beating so quickly that Derek was sure it was going to beat right out of his chest. 

“Thanks.” Stiles muttered, allowing Derek to leave before he sunk into the nearest seat and stared at the door in shock, of all the things he’d been expecting Derek to say, it hadn’t been that, it had caught him off guard and Stiles couldn’t help the small smile on his lips, shaking his head in an amused disbelief, how could he have ever doubted that Derek didn’t care about him? About all of them? About the pack? He was such an idiot. He got changed, making sure his scars were covered, before climbing in to bed, ignoring the pounding of his pulse beating just behind his eyes and went to sleep instantly.

Stiles woke screaming from a nightmare only a few hours later, he was sat up in bed, his chest heaving, his heart racing, drenched in sweat as he glanced around the room, convinced that Kate or Gerard or various other people were there waiting for him, waiting to make him suffer in ways he’d never even thought of before, instead the room was empty, other than the paperwork that was scattered around. He climbed out of bed, swiping at his face to try and remove the evidence of his tears, moving towards the nearest pile of paperwork before he stilled, could he take Derek up on his offer? Could he really go to his room and beg Derek to let him stay in there because he was scared of being alone? Before he’d really thought it through, he was already out the door and knocking on Derek’s door. His brain caught up a moment later and Stiles turned on the spot, ready to head back to his own room, praying that he hadn’t woken Derek up, when Derek’s door cracked open behind him. 

“Stiles?” Derek called out sleepily and Stiles stilled, turning to look at him. 

“Sorry, it doesn’t matter, just, I had…you said if I…sorry, I’m going…” Stiles began, Derek caught sight of the tear tracks on his cheeks, he could smell the sweat and fear rolling off Stiles in waves and he felt like his heart was breaking.

“Come here.” Derek said, pulling him in to a tight hug and holding him so tightly that all Stiles could think was how warm it was, how safe he felt, even if he knew that realistically, Derek wouldn’t be able to protect him from some of the horrors he faced, some of the things that could and probably would still come for him. “Come on.” Derek said a minute later, pulling Stiles in to his bedroom and guiding him towards the bed, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him. “It’s okay Stiles, whatever you dreamed about, it was only a dream, you’re safe now.” Derek said reassuringly, still holding Stiles as tightly as he could. He hoped that Stiles got some comfort from the hug, but, if he was honest with himself, it was just as much for his own sake as it was Stiles’, he needed to feel that Stiles was okay, that the fear he could smell was only a result of the nightmare, that Stiles was in his arms and he was okay and they were both safe. 

Derek couldn’t help but notice that Stiles was cold, freezing even, the sweat from his nightmare could only be a cold sweat, he was practically shaking in Derek’s arms, even pressed up tight against a werewolf’s heat, Stiles should be warmer than that, surely. Derek held Stiles for what felt like hours, muttering reassurances until Stiles’ breathing evened out and he relaxed in Derek’s arms, Derek didn’t feel himself slipping in to sleep, all he knew was Stiles’ heart beating steadily from nearby, of Stiles’ scent that smelled so much like home that it almost blocked out the scent of fear, of Stiles’ even puffs of breath hitting his bare neck as he curled closer to Derek in sleep. 

Derek woke up when Stiles pushed against his arms, mumbling in his sleep, Derek opened his eyes and studied Stiles silently, he was sweating, tossing and turning, muttering quietly phrases that Derek couldn’t quite make out. 

“Stiles,” He whispered quietly, holding Stiles a little firmer, it only seemed to make things worse, Stiles tried to pull out of his grip, and it was clear for Derek to hear the whispers of denial falling from Stiles’ lips, “Stiles, it’s okay, it’s me, you’re alright, you’re safe.” Derek tried to reassure him. 

“No, no, please, please don’t make me.” Stiles whimpered and Derek felt his heart shattering. 

“Stiles, wake up, Stiles, it’s a dream, you’re safe, it’s okay, you’re okay.” Derek repeated but it seemed to be having no effect. 

“Get off me, please, please stop, please, it hurts, stop, please.” Stiles begged, Derek didn’t know what to do, he held Stiles a little tighter, reassuring him it was all a dream, that it was okay, instead Stiles started to push desperately against his arms, trying to escape from them as he started to scream in pain, in fear. 

“Stiles! Wake up! It’s me! You’re safe! It’s okay!” Derek said louder, desperate for Stiles to wake up, until, suddenly, he stilled in place, frozen in place by Stiles’ magic as Stiles tossed and turned restlessly in his sleep, panic set in, Derek was absolutely terrified, not only was he unable to help Stiles, but, right now, he couldn’t even run to wake Noah up and hope he’d be able to wake his son. 

Stiles cringed away from the pain, there was so much pain and fear, everything hurt, he couldn’t see anything properly, Gerard’s face swam in and out of focus, replaced by Kate’s every once in a while. Stiles was strapped down, tied to something that he couldn’t see, he tried to pull himself free of whatever was holding him down but he couldn’t, Gerard was holding a knife, pointing it towards Stiles’ chest, plunging it downwards, Stiles screamed in agony but there was nothing else he could do. 

“Please, please stop.” He sobbed but it had no effect, there was so much pain and there was no escape, Kate was taunting him, laughing at him, telling him how he was going to be her puppet and there was nothing he could do to stop her even as he screamed. 

Scott woke up abruptly, he wasn’t sure what had woken him at first and then he felt it, the bond he had with Derek was throbbing, Derek was terrified. Scott scrambled out of his bed, racing towards Derek’s room, not caring if he woke anyone else up in the process before he burst through the door. Whatever Scott had been expecting to see it wasn’t this. It wasn’t to see Stiles tangled in Derek’s sheets, screaming as if someone was murdering him. It wasn’t to see Derek frozen in place next to him, looking at Scott with pure terror in his eyes. Scott hesitated, taking in the scene before he turned on his heel and ran from the room, barging instead in to Noah’s room. 

“Stiles needs you!” Scott shouted, aware that Noah had woken up the moment his door had opened and he’d heard Stiles’ screams, Noah was already up and out of bed, pushing past Scott and rushing in to Derek’s room. 

“Stiles, kiddo, I’m here, it’s okay kid, daddy’s here, you’re okay, wake up now, wake up Stiles, come on baby, wake up.” Noah said as he sank on to the bed and held Stiles tightly. 

“No, no, stop, please, don’t make me, I don’t want to, please, please, stop.” Stiles sobbed. 

“Stiles, wake up, it’s a dream, you’re only dreaming, you’re safe, no-one is going to hurt you.” Noah continued as the rest of the pack gathered in the doorway behind him, Stiles continued to scream, tossing and turning in the bed like someone was tearing him apart right in front of them, Stiles’ dream must have reached its peak as suddenly Stiles sat bolt upright, a scream being torn from his throat as his chest heaved and his whole body trembled with fear. “It’s okay Stiles, it’s alright.” Noah whispered as he hugged Stiles close and Stiles slowly came back to his senses. Derek knew the instant that Stiles realised what he’d done with his magic, felt it when he Stiles’ power left him and he was able to move again, relax, take a breath, stop the panic that had radiated throughout his entire body. 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles whispered and Derek shrugged. 

“It’s fine, are you okay? How are you feeling?” Derek asked and Stiles stared at the sheet that was clenched in his fists. 

“I didn’t mean to do that…” Stiles muttered guiltily. 

“I know, I know you didn’t Stiles, I don’t blame you, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Derek reassured him. “Do you want to talk about it? About your nightmare?” 

“Not really.” Stiles replied, disentangling himself from the sheets and heading over to the curtains, a quick glance outside showed the sun wasn’t quite up yet but it wasn’t far off morning. “Might as well face the day.” He deflected. 

“Stiles…” Scott whined but Stiles gave him a bright smile. 

“Forget it Scotty, just one of those things. I’ll keep it to my own room from now on, I promise.” Stiles said, already heading towards the door. 

“No, no, I don’t want you to do that Stiles.” Derek said and Stiles froze. 

“Is that an order?” He questioned and Derek grimaced. 

“No, no, of course not. I didn’t mean…I don’t want, it’s not an order Stiles. I just, I meant what I said last night. You’re not in this alone.” Derek replied. “I don’t want to order you Stiles, I just want to help you.” 

“Kate used to order me.” Stiles hesitated, his fingers resting on the doorframe. 

“We know, and Derek won’t do that to you Stiles.” Cora reassured him. 

“No, I mean, she used to…when my nightmares disturbed her, she, um, she’d order me to wake up.” Stiles whispered, everyone turned to look at Derek, he was so disgusted by Kate he felt physically sick, he wished that he’d made sure that Peter had finished the job, that Kate had died that night in the old house, that she’d never been able to hurt Stiles the way she had. 

“Is that something you’d like me to do?” Derek said uncomfortably. 

“I don’t know.” Stiles admitted, “I don’t…honestly, I have no idea. I’d like to be able to sleep for more than a couple of hours at most each night but I don’t see that happening any time soon. At least if you ordered me awake I wouldn’t have all of you looking at me like I’m completely broken.” 

“We don’t look at you like that!” Allison said heatedly. 

“You do. I see it. I see the way you all look at me, the way you look at each other when you think I’m not looking. I’m fucked up. I get that. I’m broken and I’m really not sure if I’ll ever get back to who I was, and I don’t know that I want to be, I mean, I want to be better than I was. It’s funny, I used to think I was powerless, weak, useless and helpless, and then I got magic,” Stiles sighed, “So much fucking magic, and, I was powerful, for the first time I did something good, I stopped dad from dying, I saved his life, sort of, and then, I turned out to be Kate’s puppet, and, whatever I’d felt before, no matter how helpless, how useless I’d felt, it was nothing compared to how I felt with her. At least I’d had free will before. At least I’d had hope. A chance. She took all that away from me. She took everything away from me. Okay, yeah, we should celebrate the fact she didn’t rape me, throw a party over the fact I’m still a virgin, it doesn’t mean she didn’t do a hell of a lot of other stuff that makes me want to throw up at the thought of it and I couldn’t stop her, I wasn’t allowed to stop her,” Stiles spat in disgust, “And even now, there’s things I have to tell you but I can’t because of these fucking bindings and I hate it, because even though I have so much more free reign than I had with her, there’s still so much I can’t do and can’t say and how the fuck am I supposed to manage this? How could you possibly look at me and not think how messed up I am? How could you not see how broken and damaged I am?” Stiles ranted. 

“Stiles, we don’t think you’re broken, that’s not the problem.” Scott began. 

“Those looks you see, it’s nothing to do with how damaged you are Stiles. “Lydia continued, “Those looks are nothing to do with you. They are to do with us. They’re because of our guilt, because you’ve suffered through a lot and, you wouldn’t have had to, not if we’d been there for you, the way a pack should have been. It’s not that we think you’re broken or damaged or anything like that, it’s that you have been hurt more than any of us can imagine and we should have been able to stop it.” 

Stiles stared at her in shock, unsure of what to say or how to reply, he cleared his throat a few times, shifting his gaze to look at the floor instead of the pack. 

“Um, that’s, you guys have nothing to feel guilty over, you know that, it wasn’t your fault.” He muttered eventually. 

“Doesn’t stop us feeling bad that we let you down though, does it?” Jackson said, “I mean, I know it wasn’t our fault, I know there was nothing we could have done, even if we’d known, but, it doesn’t stop the feeling that we let you down.” 

“But you didn’t.” Stiles insisted, “I mean, now I know, that you didn’t come because you didn’t know, rather than you didn’t care, there’s no doubt in my mind that you guys care about me, that you want me around, that you would have done everything in your power to help me if you’d known, hell, when you found out, look what you did do, you risked your lives, all your lives, to even attempt to save me. There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about, or feel bad about, you did everything you could to save me as soon as you knew about it, I couldn’t ask for anything more from you, you already did so much for me, you’re the best family that I could ever ask for, you’ve never let me down.” 

“Yeah, well, you’re our family too Stiles, seeing you hurting, it upsets us, and that’s not, we don’t want you to pretend you’re fine because you don’t want us to get upset, that’s not what I’m meaning, I just meant, like, we’re here for you, we’re pack, we’re family, lean on us, let us help if we can.” Erica explained and Stiles swallowed loudly before nodding. 

“Yeah, sure, okay, I’ll, um, I’ll try, I can’t make promises, but, yeah, I’ll try.” He replied, feeling like an idiot but not knowing what else to say. 

“Great, so, pack cuddles? Or are you seriously going to get up and start your day at like four in the morning?” Scott said and Stiles rolled his eyes fondly. 

“I’ve had more sleep tonight than I have had in the past year, I think I’m good on the sleeping front for now. You guys go back to sleep though, I’m just going to go to my room and do some homework and stuff.” 

“Are you sure? We don’t mind a pack cuddle? I’d quite enjoy it.” Isaac muttered and Stiles grinned. 

“You stay and have a pack cuddle then, I’m just going to be next door.” Stiles said, leaving Derek’s room and heading for his own, shutting his bedroom door behind him.

He’d been telling the truth, he had slept for longer than he had in the past year, he knew it probably hurt the pack to hear it, but it was the truth, there was no doubt about it. In fact, other than the nightmare, Stiles actually felt kind of energised, much more awake than he usually felt at this time of the morning. He pushed the nightmare and the conversation with the pack to the back of his mind, instead diving back in to his research, if he couldn’t find a way to free himself from the binding with Derek, he had to find a way around the orders Gerard had given him, he had to find a way to tell the pack what could happen, what danger they were in.


	9. Chapter 9

School went much the same as it had been going, people staring at him in curiosity, muttering quietly under their breaths or behind their hands as if Stiles wouldn’t realise that they were talking about him. He did his best to block it out, instead focusing on the pack, on the people around him who knew everything about him and sill had it in their hearts to love him. 

Danny slid in to the seat next to Stiles at lunch and Stiles turned to glance at him in surprise, Danny grinned before striking up a conversation with Jackson who was sat across the table and Stiles shook his head in bemusement. He really needed to get a grip, he was so focused on all the bad things that had happened because of him, that could still happen, he sometimes forgot that the world didn’t revolve around him. Danny wasn’t sitting next to him to be close to Stiles. Danny and Jackson had been best friends for years, long before werewolves became a thing for them. It was easy to forget that sometimes. 

“So, it’s lacrosse practice tonight.” Isaac said uncertainly and Stiles nodded non-committedly. 

“Coach said you should come play, it’s not like a try-out or whatever, it’s just if you want to have a bit of fun?” Boyd continued. 

“Um, I guess, sure.” Stiles replied, already feeling nauseous at the thought of the changing rooms. 

“It’ll be fun Stiles, you were awesome in the last match you played, just pretend tonight’s practice is just like that night and you’ll have loads of fun.” Danny contributed and everyone in the vicinity flinched, Danny paused before realising what he had said and then he flushed bright red, “I mean, obviously, I mean, like, the match part of that night, not, you know, whatever happened afterwards…” Danny trailed off in mortification, “I’m so sorry.” 

“Nah, it’s cool, you don’t need to be sorry. You’re right. I used to really enjoy lacrosse.” Stiles agreed. 

“Great. I’ll text Derek and tell him to bring Sam to watch us. Got to get him started young if he’s going to be any good.” Jackson said and Stiles bit his bottom lip nervously. He felt sick, how was he going to get changed without any of them seeing the damage Kate and Gerard had inflicted? 

The afternoon passed in a blur, Stiles didn’t know what he was going to do about avoiding getting changed in front of the others, he wanted to share in the excitement of practice, he remembered how much he used to enjoy it, convinced it would make the entire school notice him, make him important if he was just good enough, except, he didn’t care about that, not anymore. All he wanted to do was have fun with his pack, and, they all wanted him to give it a go, so that was exactly what he was going to do. Scott said that lacrosse was great because none of them used their powers but it gave them a real sense of achievement, Stiles swore not to use his magic and Scott grinned, replying that they’d all be able to smell it if he did anyway and Stiles tried not to blush at that, it was something he was still getting used to, that they could all smell when he did the slightest bit of magic. 

There were more people in the changing rooms than Stiles expected, thankfully, while everyone else was getting changed, Coach called Stiles in to his office and shut the door behind them. 

“Stilinski, glad you could make it.” 

“Yeah, thanks, um, for letting me join in for today.” Stiles replied uncertainly. 

“Look, I just want to say, I don’t know everything that you’ve been through since your last game, but, you played a hell of a game that night, if you want to keep coming to practice, I can’t say I’ll be able to put you on the pitch during games, but, if you want to come to practice, that’s okay with me.” 

“Thanks Coach.” Stiles nodded.

“The other thing I wanted to say, I’ve heard the rumours, I’m sure you have too. I don’t know what happened to you and if you don’t want to share, that’s fine, but, if you’re not okay with this, if you would prefer not to take part, only doing it to make your friends feel good or whatever, you don’t have to.” He added and Stiles had never felt such a strong urge to hug the man in front of him before, instead, he cleared his throat and nodded. 

“Thanks Coach, but, honestly, I’m alright, I used to enjoy lacrosse, I’d like to see if I still enjoy it, if that’s okay?” He asked and Coach nodded firmly. 

“Good to hear it Bilinkski.” He replied and Stiles grinned, following Coach out of the door and back in to the changing rooms. “What are you lot hanging around in here for!? Get a shift on and get warmed up!” Coach called to all the players who were still in the changing rooms. Stiles was more thankful than ever as he was left alone to get changed, using magic to change his clothes quickly before anyone could see and then rushing out on to the pitch after the rest of the players.

Scott handed Stiles his stick as soon as he got out on the pitch and he gripped it tight, feeling the steady weight of it in his fist, he gave Scott a grin and began warming up with the rest of the players, waving quickly to Sam who was stood on the bleachers next to Derek and waving manically in their direction. 

“Watch your back Stilinski.” Theo said as he barged past Stiles, it was only because Stiles moved quickly to avoid the collision that Theo didn’t smack straight in to him, Theo gave him a smirk before continuing on to the pitch and Stiles rolled his eyes before following after him. 

The first ten minutes Coach just had them running drills and Stiles settled in to a steady rhythm, shifting his stick from one hand to the other as he ran around the cones that Coach had laid out for them. 

Coach split them in to two teams and Stiles grinned as he bumped shoulders with Scott and Isaac gave him a quick high five as they headed down one end of the pitch, Danny standing in goal behind them. Stiles hoped he didn’t suck too badly, he didn’t want to let Scott and Isaac down and he knew Jackson wouldn’t let him live it down anytime soon. 

Stiles saw the ball fall from one players stick when Scott tried to get the ball and Stiles scooped it easily in to his net and started running. It felt like everyone slowed down, he could see the other team players coming towards him but he managed to twist out of every possible collision, instead weaving his way through them with ease, he ran the length of the pitch without anyone even coming close to catching him and then Theo was there, Stiles saw him running flat out towards him, knowing somehow that Theo wasn’t going to go easy on him, Stiles smirked, two could play that game, he dropped his shoulder a moment before Theo hit him and rolled Theo over his shoulders so that he hit the ground behind Stiles with a solid thud. Stiles ran for the goal, scoring a goal with ease before he glanced around and realised everybody on the pitch, and in the bleachers, were staring at him with surprise. There was a moment of silence before suddenly his team was screaming in celebration, running towards him and clapping hands on his shoulders or tapping his helmet in excitement or even trying to hug him. 

“Alright, alright, give the man some room!” Coach was shouting and everyone backed away from Stiles until Coach was standing in front of him looking serious, “Can you do that again?” 

“Do what?” Stiles asked in confusion. 

“Are you kidding me!?” Coach asked in exasperation, “You ran the whole length of the pitch and none of my guys got anywhere near you! Alright, new plan, you get past my team and you can take your pick of positions, got it?” Coach said and Stiles stared at him. 

“I didn’t do anything special.” Stiles muttered but Coach wasn’t listening to him, instead he was re-arranging the teams so that all the starting players were on one side of the pitch and Stiles was on the other. Theo looked furious, he was holding his stick so tightly that Stiles was surprised it hadn’t already bent in two, Scott and the rest of the pack were grinning at him widely, even Jackson looked almost proud. 

“Alright Stilinski, you get a goal and you’re on the team. Team, you let him through and one of you ends up on the bench.” Coach said, throwing the ball to Stiles who caught it easily. He glanced again at the starting team, tried not to gulp, sure that they could all hear how loudly his heart was pounding in his chest, before he squared his shoulders and nodded, he could do this, maybe. 

Jackson ran towards him and Stiles took that as a signal to move, running towards Jackson, avoiding the contact at the last second by spinning out of the way and then he was running, running like his life depended on it, dodging through the players that all seemed intent on stopping him, he ducked and weaved and ran with determination. He could hear what sounded like someone shouting him from the bleachers but he blocked it out, he needed to concentrate, Scott was in his path and he grinned as Stiles ran towards him, Stiles saw the opportunity and took it, sliding through Scott’s legs, jumping back to his feet without missing a step and then it was only Theo between him and the goal, Theo snarled at him, his eyes flashing gold for the briefest second and then Stiles was spinning out of his reach, he should have expected Theo to react badly to that, he didn’t expect to feel the sharp pain of a stick, with werewolf strength behind it, smash in to his arm. He nearly lost his grip on his stick at the impact, cursing under his breath before he took another step, aiming as he threw the ball, praying that Danny would miss. 

Stiles’ pulse was pounding in his ears, it was all he could hear as he watched the ball fly through the air towards the goal, as he saw Danny twist his stick in an attempt to catch it, he wasn’t going to get there in time, please god don’t let him get there in time Stiles prayed. There was a resounding thud as the ball hit the back of the net and Stiles let out a gasp of disbelief before suddenly all the noise surrounding him came crashing in. 

“…hell do you think you were doing!? You’ve broken his fucking arm!” Jackson was shouting loudly at Theo who didn’t look remotely bothered. 

“Stiles!” Scott was calling, rushing towards him, as were half the pack, “Are you alright?” Scott asked, reaching out to touch his arm, to pull back his sleeve, Stiles jerked out of his touch instantly. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied, ignoring the way Scott was looking at him with worry to focus instead on Sam who was running across the pitch, Derek only a step behind him looking furious. “You okay little man?” Stiles asked, going to pick Sam up when he realised that his arm was actually kind of hurting, in fact, he thought Jackson might be right, his arm was broken, when he looked down he wasn’t exactly surprised to see blood and Stiles placed his other hand over the wound, healing it as quickly and discreetly as he could with magic before the rest of the pack or players arrived. 

“Are you hurt? Did your blood get anywhere? Nobody is acting weird.” Sam asked and Stiles winced when Danny appeared at his shoulder and looked at Sam in confusion. 

“No buddy, I’m fine, honestly, I’m okay, no blood anywhere it shouldn’t be. Don’t worry, I’m fine.” 

“He hit you on purpose!” Sam said indignantly and Stiles shrugged, glancing across at where Theo and Jackson looked ready to come to blows and Coach was trying valiantly to get them both to back down, blowing the whistle until he was red in the face and it was still having no effect. 

“Der, can you go sort that out please?” Stiles whispered and Derek pressed his lips in a firm line before nodding and storming across to Jackson and Theo. He wrapped a hand around the back of Jackson’s neck reassuringly and Jackson leaned in to it, looking at Derek before taking a step back, still looking annoyed. Stiles wanted to believe that that was an end to it, except instead Derek stepped towards Theo, squaring up to him and glaring right at him. 

“You ever do anything like that again and I will rip you apart.” Derek growled, Coach looked between Theo and Derek in astonishment, unable to believe that Theo was only smirking in reply to Derek’s threat. Stiles rolled his eyes and jogged over towards them, reaching out to press his palm flat on Derek’s chest. 

“Relax.” Stiles said trying to calm the situation, “Derek, relax.” Stiles repeated until Derek turned his gaze from Theo to Stiles, “It was an accident, I’m fine, it’s no big deal, see, I’m fine, it’s okay.” Stiles reassured him, “Derek, you’re setting a bad example for Sam.” Stiles pressed and Derek gritted his teeth before finally taking a step away from Theo, “Great, good, see we’re all fine, nothing to worry about.” Stiles rambled. 

“Exactly, everyone is fine, there’s nothing to worry about. Great running Stilinski. You’re on the starting team.” Coach said. 

“What!? You can’t be serious!?” Theo said in outrage. 

“I’d be quiet if I were you, you’re lucky that I don’t kick you off the team right now for that hit, it’s a good job that Stilinski is fine otherwise you’d be looking at suspension from school not just the team. Besides, if we win, we win fairly. Understood?” Coach glared and Theo nodded once before storming off towards the locker rooms. 

“You were amazing.” Danny said as soon as Theo had left, clapping a hand on Stiles’ shoulder in congratulations. “Like, seriously, where did you learn to move like that?” Stiles shrugged, it wasn’t like he could say that it was probably all the training and fights he’d had with Kate and the others.

“Wasn’t he awesome!?” Sam grinned and Stiles ruffled his hair affectionately, “Derek said you were good before Kate but that was brilliant, like, you kicked their ass!” 

“Language.” Derek said fondly and Sam grinned. 

“Oh please, you guys say way worse before you’ve even had breakfast.” Sam retorted. 

“Yeah but we’re grown-ups so we’re allowed.” Stiles replied, “Anyway, we should get you home so you can start on your homework. Plus I’ve got homework to do too. How about you do my homework and I’ll do yours?” Stiles teased and Sam frowned. 

“No fair, I can’t do your homework, you can’t even do your homework most of the time.” Sam said. 

“Good point. Okay, how about we both do our homework, you do as much as you can and I’ll help you do the rest, does that sound fair?” Stiles suggested and Sam frowned before nodding. 

“I guess.” 

“Good, you go with Derek now and I’ll catch you up in a minute?” Stiles said. 

“God will you marry me?” Danny muttered and Stiles looked at him in confusion while Derek glared at him and Sam looked at Danny like he might be about to punch him. 

“What?” Stiles guffawed. 

“Oh god, I didn’t realise I’d said that our loud.” Danny said blushing furiously while Stiles just crinkled his forehead in bemusement before shaking his head and turning his attention back to Sam. The rest of the team had already headed in to the locker rooms and Stiles prayed that most of them would already be changed and ready for home. 

“You go get started on your homework little man, I’ll be right behind you with Scott and the others.” 

“And after homework you’ll tell me a story?” Sam asked. 

“Sure.” Stiles agreed. 

“I want Tyler and Liam to come over to our house too, could we have a sleep over with them?” Sam added and Stiles paused, looking to Derek and then to Danny who was walking behind them. 

“Um, well, maybe we could have them over for dinner first, how’s that sound?” Stiles suggested and Sam nodded excitedly. 

“That’s awesome, thanks Stiles.” Sam grinned. Danny muttered something from behind him that Stiles didn’t catch but that made Derek turn to look at him and Stiles could swear Derek almost growled at him. 

He waved Sam and Derek off, following Danny in to the locker room and trying not to panic when he saw several members of the team were still there in various states of undress. Stiles felt his heart begin to race, he couldn’t take his clothes off here, he couldn’t let anyone see his scars. 

“You not having a shower?” Scott asked as he rubbed a towel across his face and chest before pulling a t-shirt over his head. 

“I, um, I’ll probably just grab one at home.” Stiles muttered. 

“Gross dude, you’ll stink the car out.” Isaac said without thinking and Stiles blushed.

“Um, yeah, right, that’s true.” Stiles said, pulling his bag from his locker and looking through for a change of clothes, he hoped if he dragged his feet enough then maybe everyone would get fed up and want to leave and he could get a shower in the privacy of his own home. 

“Come on Stiles, hurry up.” Jackson complained ten minutes later when the rest of the team had left and Stiles was the only one still to have a shower. 

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll just, hey, I’ll grab one at home instead.” Stiles said, grabbing his bag and slinging it on his shoulder, heading towards the door as the rest of the pack shrugged and followed after him, Scott narrowing his eyes almost suspiciously at Stiles before he shook his head and followed after Stiles. 

Scott waited until Stiles was telling Sam his nightly story before he headed in to the kitchen where the rest of the pack were dealing with their own homework, he thought about mentioning his suspicions, about how Stiles would never take his shirt off - or any of his other clothing - when any of the others were around. He decided against it, he was probably imagining it and, honestly, he didn’t exactly blame Stiles for being modest, after what Kate had done to him, Scott could completely understand that Stiles didn’t exactly want to be getting naked near anyone else, or have naked people anyone near him. He thought it would be best not to mention it, to wait and see if maybe he was just imagining it and, if he wasn’t, then he could talk to Stiles about it without any of the others around, there was no need to embarrass Stiles by bringing it up in front of everyone. 

When Stiles went to his room after telling Sam his nightly story he was exhausted, he’d had a shower and changed in to his bed clothes and finished his own homework and all he wanted to do was to try and get a few hours sleep before he had to face another day at school, instead he’d looked at the research surrounding him and decided to try and squeeze in a couple of hours of researching, that maybe he’d be able to find a way to protect the pack from Gerard even if he couldn’t warn them. 

He’d barely settled at his desk before there was a knock on his door, Stiles sighed, getting up from his chair and moving towards the door, not exactly one hundred percent surprised to find Derek stood there. 

“Hey.” Derek said in greeting. 

“Hiya.” Stiles replied, “What’s up?” 

“I figured after last night you wouldn’t want to come see me, so I thought I’d come see you.” Derek said, moving in to the bedroom and sitting on the bed. 

“What?” Stiles stared after him. 

“I know you Stiles, you’re going to go to sleep, you’re going to have a nightmare, you’re going to wake up and you’re going to think about last night and decide that you don’t want to come see me because you don’t want everyone to witness your freak out, so my thinking is, I’ll spend the night in here with you and if you start to have a nightmare, I’ll order you to wake up, okay?” 

“Um…” Stiles swallowed uncertainly, “I guess?” 

“I don’t have to. I can stay in my own room if you want, it’s just you said about ordering you to wake up, and, I don’t know, I thought this was a good idea? I can go again if you want?” Derek offered and Stiles stared at him for a minute before shaking his head. 

“No, I mean, I’d like, yeah, if you don’t mind, then yes I’d like you to wake me up if I have nightmare.” Stiles replied quietly. 

“Okay, sure, well, I’ll just, are you ready to go to bed?” Derek asked, he felt like such an idiot but, he didn’t know how to do this, and he couldn’t help but think about being cuddled up in bed with Stiles, about how good it would feel. He shook his head to dismiss those thoughts, he wasn’t allowed to think about Stiles like that, he was only here to comfort him, that was it. 

“Um, I was going to research for a bit first, but, I guess, I can do that in bed.” Stiles said uncertainly, picking the nearest book up and heading for the bed, climbing in nervously, he tried not to think about having Derek in bed with him, before, before Kate, back when he’d been innocent and naïve, he’d fantasised about spending plenty of time in bed with Derek Hale. At first it had started as just fantasies, because who wouldn’t look at Derek and realise that they actually found guys attractive, then he’d gotten to know Derek a bit and he’d developed a bit of a crush, and then, well, then it had grown into something deeper, something that made Stiles want to scream with frustration because he now knew what it was to be in love with someone, what he’d felt for Lydia was nothing in comparison to this, and Derek would never look twice at him. 

Stiles hadn’t thought about anything remotely sexual in so long, the thought of someone touching him sexually made him feel nauseous, but having Derek in his bed, knowing that Derek was going to stay with him, wake him up if he had nightmares, well, Stiles couldn’t help the sudden butterflies that were fluttering violently in his stomach. It wasn’t that he’d ever stopped being attracted to Derek, anyone with eyes could see how attractive the man was, but Stiles hadn’t thought about anyone in that way in a long time, mainly because of how Kate would have no doubt used it to her advantage and Stiles wouldn’t have survived that. 

Derek climbed in to the bed with him and Stiles prayed that his heart wasn’t racing as loudly as it felt like it was. He made himself as comfortable as he could, settling into the pillows and cracking open the book where he last left off, he was aware of Derek getting comfortable in the bed next to him and the older man shifted a few times before letting out a huff of air. 

“So this is a bit weird isn’t it?” Derek muttered and Stiles huffed out a laugh. 

“Yeah a little bit.” He admitted, Derek rolled on to his side so that he was looking at Stiles and Stiles couldn’t help but turn to look at him in reply. 

“So lacrosse practice was pretty great tonight.” Derek said and Stiles grinned fondly. 

“Yeah it was.” He agreed. 

“You were amazing, and considering you didn’t use magic…”

“How do you know I didn’t? I think the scent could have faded enough that you wouldn’t have smelled it.” Stiles teased and Derek smirked. 

“No way. When you use magic it stinks out the whole area, no way did you use it and me not smell it.” Derek replied, snuggling slightly down in to the bed. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Stiles asked a moment later. 

“Sure.” 

“What does my magic smell like? Like, I know you guys can smell it, but does it smell the same as Deaton’s? Or different? Does it change depending on my mood or whatever?” Stiles said. 

“Has nobody ever told you before?” Derek queried and Stiles shrugged. 

“It wasn’t like I was really willing to ask. I tried to draw as little attention to myself as possible, even though that didn’t work a lot of the time.” Stiles answered and Derek fought back the wave of hatred he felt towards Kate, instead taking a steadying breath and forcing himself to stay calm. 

“It’s kind of difficult to limit to one scent. It’s just your scent. It’s unique to you. It’s different than it was before you had magic, but, it’s kind of still you, just maybe, amplified maybe.” Derek began and Stiles looked at him in bemusement. “It smells good, no, it’s, um, intoxicating is a good word. It’s sweet and sort of light, fresh, it smells like the rainforest after a rainstorm, like fresh cut grass, like lightning, powerful, like the atmosphere is charged and waiting for you to direct it. It still smells like you though, like cinnamon and sugar but, I don’t know, you’re kind of a walking contradiction, you smell like light, like protection, like safety, but still, there’s something dangerous about you, like you smell powerful, that you could kill me if you felt like it but that you wouldn’t do it, because I’m safe with you.” Derek explained, doing his best not to flush as Stiles looked at him incredulously. 

“Really?” Stiles muttered in awe as he snuggled in to the covers, trying to get warm, “You feel safe with me?” 

“Of course I do.” Derek replied, “I trust you Stiles.” 

“Wow.” Stiles whispered, “I mean, um, I trust you too.” There was a stilted silence for a minute and then Derek smiled. 

“So, back to lacrosse, did you enjoy yourself? Before Theo hit you, I mean?” Derek asked sleepily. 

“Yeah it was good, I mean, I used to enjoy it, well, I mean, I only started playing because I thought Lydia would notice me, back when I thought I was in love with her, but, once I got to play, I actually really enjoyed it, you know, it was just, fun I guess. And, I know there was that whole thing with Theo hitting me and whatever, but, god, it felt so good just to run and not have to worry about being forced to stop because somebody ordered me too, and just barging through people without thinking about what weapons they have on them and if I’m about to end up with a knife in my gut because I didn’t protect myself properly. And, yeah, okay, Theo broke my arm, but I healed it, which I’m allowed to do now, and nobody noticed and really, he’s the exception, and it’s only because, well, I’m not one hundred percent sure why he’s acting the way he is, I mean, if he’s been here like six months and not given you any trouble, why’s he starting trying to cause trouble now? Is it because I’m back? I don’t see why? I mean, I’ve never met the guy before so I don’t know why he’d have an issue with me, you don’t know, do you?” Stiles asked, trying not to shiver slightly as he snuggled deeper in to the blankets, Derek rolled his eyes and reached out, tugging Stiles gently towards him. 

“Why are you always so cold? I don’t remember you being cold before?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged, feeling warmer now he was next to Derek’s heat. 

“One of those things I guess. Also, you’re a werewolf. You run hotter than us meek humans. You could run around in the snow in just your underwear and you’d still be perfectly fine whereas normal people would have frozen to death even wearing like six layers. But you didn’t answer the question.” Stiles yawned, suddenly tired now that he was finally warming up, “Do you know why Theo is acting like a dick towards me?” 

“Probably jealous.” Derek muttered sleepily, shifting slightly so that Stiles was encased in his arms, he wasn’t going to think about how good it felt, that would just make things awkward, he was just going to focus on Stiles being warm and both of them getting some sleep. 

“Jealous? Of me?” Stiles huffed out in laughter, yawning again and his eyes slipping closed. “He’s got nothing to be jealous of.” He mumbled, sounding half-asleep. 

“Of course he has.” Derek replied, on the verge of sleep himself, “You’re awesome.” Derek said, barely louder than his breathing as he slipped in to sleep, certain that Stiles had already fallen asleep in the moments before. 

Stiles could have sworn Derek replied to his comment that Theo had nothing to be jealous of, but, he had no idea what the older man had said, as soon as he’d warmed up, and that in itself was fantastic, he’d been so exhausted that sleep had claimed him easily. 

Stiles stared at the Winnebago in front of him, unable to believe he was back here, he thought he’d finally escaped and yet here he was again. Kate sauntered out of the doorway, Gerard following after her, both of them smirking at Stiles with amusement.

“You didn’t honestly think it was that easy to escape from us, did you?” Kate mocked. “Your ours Stiles, there’s no escape for you. You’ll never be free from us.” She said, her claws appearing, her skin turning purple as the shift started to overtake her. 

“No.” Stiles whispered, backing away until he hit a wall behind him. He glanced around, he was in an alleyway, not just any alleyway, he recognised this alleyway, he turned to look towards the entrance, there was Kate moving towards him, claws out, ready to rip him apart. He turned towards the back wall, there was the man Kate had been hunting, he was cowering against the wall, his face turned away as much as he could, tears running down his cheeks as he begged for them not to hurt him, but that was the extent of his escape, there was no escape for him, not when Stiles’ magic held him in place. 

“You’ve been a very naughty boy haven’t you Clint?” Kate taunted, trailing a claw along Stiles’ cheek and licking his blood from the tip of her claw, Stiles glared at her in hatred while Clint sobbed in terror. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” Clint whimpered. 

“Stiles, break his leg.” Kate said and Stiles gritted his teeth. 

“Don’t make me…”

“I said, break his fucking leg! Do it. Before I order you to break something a lot more crucial.” She snarled, Stiles fought the order as much as he could, as Clint begged him not to, as Kate grabbed him and slammed him in to wall and Stiles’ concentration was lost, his fingers twisted and Clint screamed in agony as his leg was snapped in two. “Good, now, his other one.”

“No, no, please, please, don’t.” Clint screamed. 

“This is what happens when you betray me Clint. You were going to help him take my caster away from me. You will pay the price for that. Stiles, break his other leg.” 

“No!” Clint pleaded. 

“Kate, please, please don’t make me do this.” Stiles begged. 

“I said do it now you piece of shit!” 

“No, please.” Stiles said, crying out in pain when Kate slammed a knife in to his side. 

“Follow my fucking orders or this will be nothing in comparison to what I’ll do to you.” Kate snarled, Stiles tried to fight, tried to run from her, the wall was pressed firmly against his back, his feet frozen in place, Kate stabbed him again and again, he was in so much pain, everything hurt so much, he heard Clint screaming, sure that at some point his magic had broken the man’s other leg, but he wasn’t aware of his magic doing it, all he could think was how much he hurt, all he could hear was Kate laughing at him, taunting him, he was screaming, he knew that much, he was screaming in pain and there was no escape. 

“Stiles! I order you to wake up!” Derek’s voice sounded loud in his ears and Stiles startled upright. He was lying in bed, his chest heaving, his breathing out of control as he tried to calm down. “It’s okay, you’re okay, are you alright?” Derek asked, rubbing a hand soothingly over Stiles’ back as Stiles nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Stiles muttered, swiping at the sweat on his forehead, surprised to find himself calming down reasonably quickly, “How long were you trying to wake me up?” He said, already looking to the clock, they’d only been asleep for a couple of hours, Derek must be exhausted. 

“Not long. I said your name and when you didn’t wake up, I ordered you too.” Derek replied, “Are you sure you’re okay? It didn’t hurt you? Ordering you I mean?” 

“No, no, I’m good.” Stiles said. “Thank you.” He muttered. 

“No problem, are you…do you…shall we…would you like…” Derek said, trailing off, unsure how to say what he wanted to say without sounding stupid, “I’m sure we could both use some more sleep.” He said and Stiles looked at him, his eyes going wide with guilt. 

“Yeah, sure, of course, I’m sorry.” 

“No, no, you don’t have to be sorry.” Derek said, “I didn’t mean that it’s your fault, I just, I think we both need a bit more sleep if we’re going to be able to stay awake tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Stiles nodded, settling back down in to the covers but pointedly leaving a gap between the two of them. Derek wanted to reach out and comfort Stiles but Stiles obviously didn’t want him to, instead he shifted slightly until he was comfortable, leaving only an inch or so of space between them and slipped easily back in to sleep. 

Derek woke again a few hours later, Stiles was still lay in the bed but his gaze was focused on the book in front of him, Stiles didn’t even seem aware that Derek was awake again until he cleared his throat and Stiles startled slightly, looking away from the book to glance at Derek. 

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Stiles muttered and Derek shook his head fondly. 

“No, what’s the book about?” Derek mumbled and Stiles rested the book on his lap, turning to look at Derek. 

“Nothing that exciting, just different things people have tried with magic over the years. I don’t know if we’ll ever find a way to free me from the bindings, but I really want to make sure that I know everything that my magic can do, give me as much as an advantage as possible.” Stiles replied, Derek moved closer, looking over Stiles’ shoulder at the book, he wasn’t sure what language it was written it but the pictures were incredibly vivid and Derek felt a little nauseated. 

“Can your magic do that? I mean, keep people alive while their insides are, um, on the outside?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“Not that I’ve tried, Kate made me heal somebody that she’d skinned once, she’d skin them, I’d heal them and then repeated it over and over until she was satisfied. It was a really long few days.” Stiles said and Derek wished, not for the first time, that Kate had been made to suffer so much more before she died. 

He did his best not to get angry at her, getting angry now wasn’t going to help anything, instead he shifted down in the bed, shifting closer to Stiles, until he could feel Stiles’ cold skin practically brushing against his. 

“Well that’s massively disturbing.” Derek mumbled and Stiles laughed quietly. 

“Yeah it is.” He agreed. Derek was still tired and he couldn’t help but throw caution to the wind, throwing an arm over Stiles’ stomach and cuddling close to him. 

“Okay, wake me up in a bit.” Derek mumbled, already practically asleep. Stiles stared at the sleeping Derek, unable to believe that Derek was cuddled up to him, that Derek Hale was basically sleeping on him. He was afraid to move, afraid that he might disturb Derek if he did, he managed to let the book he’d been reading slide to the floor before he slid down in to the sheets and made himself comfortable, he was tired and although he didn’t want to wake Derek up with another nightmare he couldn’t help but fall asleep. 

Stiles was tied down, chained down, his face towards the floor, a strap across the back of his neck and another across the top of his head holding his head still. There were more across the length of his body, he was pinned in place, strapped down to a table of some kind, he was in so much pain, everything hurt, he wanted his dad, he wanted to go home. 

“Stay still and this won’t have to hurt.” Gerard said as he dug the knife in to the tender skin of Stiles’ neck. He screamed, writhing to try and escape the ropes and chains that held him in place, it had no effect, other than Gerard digging the knife in deeper in retaliation. “I told you not to move.” 

“Stop, god, please stop.” Stiles begged, his head was spinning, everything hurt so much, he was so tired, exhausted, he felt weak, like even if he was free from the ropes that he wouldn’t be able to sit up, “Please don’t.” 

“Nearly there, just a little more.” Gerard said, digging the knife in deeper, “Once it’s in it’ll all be fine.” Stiles felt his fingers rooting in the hole at the back of his neck it felt like Gerard was trying to dig in to his very brain, he screamed, there was nothing else he could do, he screamed until his voice gave out, begging Gerard to stop. 

“Stiles, Stiles wake up! I order you to wake up!” Derek commanded and Stiles bolted upright, reaching instantly for the back of his neck, sure he could still feel the hole there. “Are you alright?” 

“Fine.” Stiles lied, he felt sick, it had been so real, felt so real, he was sure that his hands should be covered in blood from where they touched his neck. 

“It’s alright, you’re okay, you’re home.” Derek muttered and Stiles nodded silently, obviously preoccupied with his dream. “You’re alright Stiles, you’re safe now.” Derek repeated and Stiles kept nodding numbly, Derek wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly, planning to stay that way until Stiles calmed down enough to realise he was awake, that he was home, that he was safe. 

“Sorry.” Stiles mumbled, still sounding like he was about to burst in to tears. 

“Don’t be, it’s fine Stiles, so long as you’re okay.” Derek replied. 

“I’m alright, I’m okay.” Stiles whispered, rubbing at the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I’m a threat.” He blurted out and Derek looked at him in surprise. 

“What?” 

“I’m still a threat…” Stiles said, his voice trailing off as his throat closed up and he couldn’t get any more words out before the bindings took hold. 

“Stiles, you’re not a threat, not to us, you’ve done everything you can to protect us, besides, not that I’d ever have to, but, I can order you to stop if I ever thought you were a threat, so, don’t worry about that, it was just a dream, whatever you were dreaming about, that’s all it was, you’re safe now.” Derek tried to reassure him, Stiles looked to be on the verge of tears, opening and closing his mouth uselessly before he looked down at the sheets and nodded. 

“I think I’m going to get up, I’ve probably had enough sleep for the night.” Stiles said, extracting himself from Derek’s arms and climbing out of the bed. 

“It’s still early.” Derek tried but he knew it was useless as Stiles grabbed a pile of clothes and headed towards the bathroom, stopping at the door to turn back to glance at Derek. 

“Thanks, for, um, thanks for waking me up.” Stiles said before exiting the room and Derek couldn’t help but smile fondly to himself as he threw back the sheets and got out of the bed, heading for his own room to get ready for the day. 

Stiles couldn’t help but hate himself, he wished he was strong enough to break the bindings, wished he was strong enough to warn Derek of the threat that he still was. He cursed under his breath, scrubbing at his skin until it was raw red in places before finally getting out of the shower and getting dressed. 

They settled in to a kind of routine over the next few days, Derek would get changed in his own bedroom before going to Stiles’ room. After a few days he didn’t even bother knocking, just heading in and climbing in to bed, Stiles would join him after a few minutes and they’d talk quietly before one or the other drifted off to sleep. Stiles would always wake up from his nightmares when Derek ordered him to and he couldn’t help but be grateful for that, he was getting more sleep than he had since this whole thing began, even if he hated disturbing Derek at least a few times a night. 

Sometimes Stiles would stay awake when Derek drifted back to sleep, reading various books that he prayed would help him either break the bindings or at least protect the pack from any threats, including himself. He hadn’t found anything yet and he was beginning to give up any hope that they’d ever find a solution, he wished he could tell them everything, tell them what could happen, but, he couldn’t, the stupid bindings wouldn’t let him. 

“Huh.” He muttered in surprise, he was staring at the book in front of him while he was sat in the living room, he’d finished his homework and told Sam a story a little while ago. The rest of the pack were all there, watching the television or completing their own homework or even reading similar books to Stiles. 

“What is it?” Peter asked and Stiles pursed his lips, his eyes scanning the rest of the page as he continued to read on in silence, “Stiles, what is it? Is it something to break the bindings?” 

“Um, no.” Stiles said, his gaze still on the page, his mind racing, if this worked, it would protect the pack from any threats, himself included. “It’s a spell of sorts. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to work, but it says that it’ll basically make you invisible from any threats. They won’t be able to see you or hear you. I guess they might still be able to touch you if they got close enough, but, if they can’t see or hear you then the chances of them accidently walking in to you is pretty slim.” Stiles explained. 

“Right, so, you do this spell or whatever and we’re invisible to anyone who wants to kill us?” Jackson asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“It sounds like it.” Stiles replied. 

“Cool, so, what do you need to do it?” Erica said.

“Nothing, I can do it now, I just need to recite this protection spell and that’s it.”

“That sounds a bit too simple. What’s the spell say?” Isaac queried. 

“It’s in Latin, but, I think, roughly it translates that,” Stiles squinted at the page slightly, “Something along the lines of, ‘Protect what is mine, protect it from harm, do as I wish and ensure it is safe, protect it from enemies, hide it from seeking eyes, hide it from their ears, make it unseen to those that threaten it, make it safe, protect it from threats.’” Stiles read, pausing slightly as his breath caught, “Oops.” He muttered, he had a split second to feel his magic respond to the spell and then it was leaving him in a giant blast of power that swept through the entire house. The entire pack wrinkled their noses as the smell of power and magic engulfed them, the walls shook dangerously, the lights all glowed too brightly, it felt like the whole house was about to collapse around them and then it stilled, everything was silent, motionless, Stiles met his dad’s terrified eyes, right before his eyes rolled upwards and he collapsed unconscious in the chair. 

“Stiles!” Noah called in panic, racing forwards and touching Stiles’ cheek, “Stiles? Stiles, can you hear me? Kiddo, come on, come on Stiles, wake up, god, wake up.” Noah pleaded. He could hear Stiles’ heart beating steadily in his chest, even if it sounded too slow and sluggish for Noah’s liking, still, Stiles was alive, but he was unconscious. 

“What happened? Is he alright?” Melissa asked, assessing Stiles herself, “Stiles, open your eyes, Stiles, come on sweetie, open your eyes for me.” There was no response. “Derek! Order him!” 

“Right, yeah, right.” Derek said, stepping forward, his heart was racing, his chest was tight, he didn’t know what had just happened, but Stiles had done something, no doubt reading the spell aloud, and now he was unconscious, what if it was permanent? What if he was in some kind of coma? Before Derek could truly work himself in to a panic, Sam rushed down the stairs, looking terrified. 

“What was that?” Sam said before his eyes landed on Stiles, “Stiles!” He cried out rushing forward and reaching out to touch Stiles’ hand, tears filling his eyes, “What happened? Is he alright?” 

“Derek!” Melissa scolded. 

“Stiles, I order you to wake up.” Derek demanded, Stiles stirred slightly, he blinked and they all gasped in surprise as Stiles’ iris’ glowed a bright purple back at them for a split second before his eyes slipped closed again and Stiles groaned. 

“What happened?” He mumbled, rubbing at his head gingerly as he blinked again and the purple vanished, his eyes back to their normal amber. 

“You read the spell aloud you moron.” Lydia chided and Stiles winced as if he was in pain. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She added in worry.

“I can’t, I, something doesn’t feel right.” Stiles whimpered, clutching at his chest and grimacing. 

“What? Where? How?” Scott asked. 

“I…my magic…I’m really tired.” Stiles said, hunching over slightly and letting out a groan of pain, slipping back towards unconsciousness. 

“Stiles, you need to stay awake, you hear me? You have to stay awake, that’s an order.” Derek said, Stiles looked up at him, blinking his eyes a few times before his eyes closed and he fell forwards, he would have fallen out of the chair if both Melissa and Noah hadn’t caught him and the entire pack stared at Stiles in surprise. 

“But…that was an order…how did he disobey you?” Cora said and Derek shrugged. 

“He said something was wrong with his magic.” Lydia said, “Maybe somehow the spell broke the bindings or something?” She suggested. 

“Derek, let me try and grab the ring.” Noah sad quickly and Derek looked at him in surprise. “If I grab it and it doesn’t blast me, then whatever just happened means the bindings are broken.”

“If you try to grab it and the bindings haven’t broken, you’re going to get blasted.” Derek replied. 

“I’ll try.” Peter said, and Noah turned to stare at him, “I’ve got a few less years on you if I end up getting smashed through a wall.” He explained and Noah pursed his lips before nodding. 

“Okay.” Noah agreed. 

“Are you sure about this?” Derek asked, pulling the chain from around his neck so that the ring was visible to them all. 

“Not really.” Peter said licking his lips nervously. 

“Hang on, Stiles woke up when you ordered him too, he just didn’t stay awake. Maybe it’s nothing to do with the bindings.” Allison interrupted and Peter winced. 

“Only one way to find out.” He said, bracing himself as he reached to grab the ring. The effect was instantaneous, he’d barely brushed his fingers against the ring when he was thrown backwards through the air and in to the nearest wall. He slammed in to it hard enough that he nearly went clear through to the other side and it felt like every bone in his body was broken. “Fuck.” He cursed, coughing as he staggered upright, swiping at the blood at the corner of his mouth.

“Are you alright?” Cora said, gripping his arm tightly as she steadied Peter.

“Yeah I think so. Guess we know the answer to that, bindings are still securely in place.” Peter replied stiffly, wincing as he leaned on Cora slightly and his injuries healed, Derek moved towards him, resting a hand on his arm to drain any of the remaining pain and Peter smiled at him fondly before shaking his head in bemusement, “I’m fine nephew, don’t worry.”

“So how did Stiles disobey a direct order if the bindings are still in place?” Melissa asked in confusion. 

“I guess we have to wait until he wakes up and ask him?” Lydia replied, “I mean, we know he’s going to wake up right, he’s just weak…hang on…” She muttered, “Wait, I think, I might have an idea.”

“About?” 

“Stiles’ magic. He doesn’t have an unlimited supply, we know this. He has a lot of magic, but, if he uses a lot at once, or over a short period of time, he gets weaker, doesn’t he?” She began and they all nodded, “He could lift the jeep in the air without touching it without any issues, but if he had to do it again and again and again, eventually, he wouldn’t have the magic to do it. Or he could try and lift the house up and he might have enough magic to do it once but then he’d take time to recover, to get back to that level, he couldn’t do it again straight away, right?” 

“Yeah.” Derek agreed. 

“We know that it takes energy from him, so, when he’s tired, he doesn’t have as much magic, right? We know that Stiles isn’t sleeping great with his nightmares and stuff, so he mustn’t be at full power. So, what if this spell, whatever it did, what if it’s big magic, lots of magic, more magic than Stiles realised, and he didn’t even mean to cast it, he just, did it, so maybe he wasn’t prepared, and, well, maybe he hasn’t got enough magic left to follow orders, maybe he used magic to do the spell and then had enough to follow the order to wake up, but, not enough magic to follow the order to stay awake. That would make sense, wouldn’t it? I mean, it would explain why he was tired? Why something felt wrong? I don’t think he’s ever used enough magic to completely drain him before, but there has to be a limited, doesn’t there? He can’t have an unlimited amount of magic?”

“I guess, but, I mean, how big of a spell would it need to be to drain STILES of magic? I mean, we’ve all seen what he’s capable of, we’ve experienced it first-hand, what the hell did this spell do to make him use that much magic?” Boyd replied. 

“Well, he said it would make us invisible to threats, so, I’m going with that’s exactly what it did.” Jackson muttered sarcastically and Boyd rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, but, still, that’s a lot of magic to use up in one go.” 

“It was a big spell.” Jackson shrugged, “Anyway, he’s asleep, I vote we all do the same thing, we’ll know when he wakes up and can deal with it then, right? I mean, I’m exhausted, I guess you guys are too, we might as well all attempt to get a bit of sleep until he wakes us up.”

“So you want a puppy pile?” Scott asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, Derek’s been in Stiles’ room for the past week so it’s not like we’ve had the option of one with all of us, might as well make the most of it.” 

“Alright, okay, everyone go get changed for bed and we’ll have a puppy pile.” Derek sighed fondly, still looking at Stiles with worry.

“Are we thinking he’s just got to sleep it off?” Noah asked as the rest of the pack headed upstairs to their rooms. 

“I don’t know, I have no idea how his magic works, but what Lydia said makes sense, so, I’m hoping so, but, I guess, if he doesn’t wake up in the morning then we reassess.” Derek said, Noah didn’t look one hundred percent confident with the plan, but he nodded, leaning down and picking Stiles up as gently as he could, he glanced across at Derek who moved forwards and between the two of them they managed to get Stiles upstairs to Derek’s bedroom. 

Derek thought that Stiles would probably be more comfortable in his sleep wear, but, he also knew that Stiles would be horrified at the knowledge that they’d taken his clothes off while he was unconscious, so, instead, they left Stiles’ clothes as they were as the pack settled down into the bed around them. 

Stiles woke up slowly, his head was pounding and his mouth was so dry he felt like he hadn’t had anything to drink in a month. He didn’t remember falling asleep, in fact, he couldn’t remember going to bed, it was that thought that jolted him upright, looking around and seeing the entire pack looking at him with worry.

“Stiles? Are you alright?” Scott asked and Stiles nodded slowly, looking around, he was in Derek’s room, the entire pack were there, he tried to think back as to what had happened, what had resulted in him waking up in Derek’s room, he glanced at the clock and stilled in surprise. 

“It’s morning.” He muttered. 

“Yeah it is, did you hit your head?” Isaac asked in confusion. 

“No, I mean, I slept through the night?” Stiles replied and they all looked at him in surprise. 

“That’s what you’re bothered about? Not the fact that you passed out from doing that spell and couldn’t even stay awake despite the fact Derek ordered you too?” Erica said. 

“What?” Stiles mumbled, rubbing at his head in weariness before he remembered what had happened the night before. “Oh god, the spell, I didn’t mean to actually cast it, what happened? I sort of remember the house shaking but after that, it goes black, I passed out?” 

“Yeah you did. We couldn’t get you to wake up, then Derek ordered you awake and you woke up but your eyes were glowing purple and then they went back to normal and you said something felt wrong and you went back to sleep and even when Derek ordered you to stay awake you didn’t.” Allison explained. 

“Wow, that, um, that sounds intense, sorry if I spooked you guys.” He paused, “Purple? Really?” 

“That’s what you concentrate on?” Peter laughed. 

“Well, I’ve never seen them purple before.” Stiles replied, grimacing slightly as he moved and his entire body seemed to throb with weariness. He decided to use his magic to heal himself except, when he reached for it, he couldn’t feel it, instead there just seemed to be an almost hollow feeling in his chest. “What the hell?” He muttered under his breath, trying to make his fingertips spark with magic, there was a few faint flickers before they vanished completely and Stiles was certain he was going to be sick, “Oh god, oh god, my magic, I can’t…” He tried his magic again but there was only the faintest flicker before it ceased, “No, no, my magic, I don’t feel…” Stiles could feel his heart racing, his breath coming in gasps, “Oh god.” 

“Stiles, calm down, it’s okay, it’s going to be alright.” Noah tried to reassure him but Stiles couldn’t stop the oncoming panic attack, it felt like he couldn’t breathe, like his chest was being crushed by an invisible weight. 

“Stiles, take a deep breath!” Derek ordered and Stiles felt the compulsion kick in. That more than anything helped to calm Stiles, if the bindings were still in place then his magic was still there somewhere. “That’s better, okay, just breathe Stiles, you’re going to be fine.” Derek reassured him. 

“What happened to my magic?” Stiles whispered hoarsely. 

“We think the spell used up so much magic that it sort of drained you, but, we’re hoping it’s only temporary.” Lydia said and Stiles gaped at her. 

“’Hoping it’s only temporary’? Are you kidding me? Oh god, what if it’s gone? Permanently? I mean, there’s the plus side that I can’t accidentally kill any of you with my magic, but, god, I can’t heal any of you either, not that you guys need my help but, god, what if Sam gets hurt and I can’t help him at all? What if something comes along and tries to kill you and I just get in the way!? God, I mean, I hate being bound but my magic never felt wrong, you know? Just, what happens if you need me to protect you from something and I can’t even…” Stiles trailed off when he tried to use his magic again and embers appeared on his fingertips, he took a calming breath, “Right, okay, I’m just low powered, it’s okay, I’m alright.” He reassured himself, his breathing finally getting under control.

“You see? It’s fine. You just used a lot of magic making us invisible to enemies. Give it a couple of hours or days and I’m certain you’ll be back to normal.” Melissa said and Stiles nodded in agreement, swallowing loudly. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” He nodded. 

“So, how do you feel? Other than the lack of magic right now? Everything else okay?” Scott asked quietly. 

“I’m okay, just a bit tired, but, I’m fine.” Stiles replied, that wasn’t true, he was tired and achy and his limbs felt a thousand times heavier than normal, his head was beating out its own rhythm that made Stiles feel nauseous, that wasn’t even getting him started on the fact that it felt like a hole had been carved in his chest, he was used to the warmth provided by his magic to attempt to keep his body temperature within some kind of normal range, and now it felt like he was going to freeze to death, like he was going to turn in to an icicle within the next few minutes. His teeth started chattering and Noah reached over, rubbing a hand across his back soothingly in hopes of warming him up, Stiles couldn’t tell him that his actions wouldn’t help at all, not with Stiles’ situation anyway. 

“We have to be at school in an hour, are you up for it?” Allison queried and Stiles shrugged, what he really wanted to do was wrap himself in several blankets and sleep for the next month. 

“Sure, I’ve got tutoring with Danny tonight anyway so I can’t really bail.” He said, getting out of the covers gingerly, trying not to let the others realise just how much his head ached, and made his way to his own room to grab some clothes before he headed for the shower. 

“You don’t have to stay after school if you don’t want to, I’m sure one night off isn’t going to kill you, in fact, you don’t have to go in at all today if you don’t want to.” Noah advised while they were eating breakfast. 

“It’s fine, besides, I’ll probably be back to normal in a couple of hours and then I’ll be bored out of my mind here.” Stiles said dismissively. 

As it turned out Stiles wasn’t back to normal in a few hours, by lunchtime he just about had enough magic to move a pot of pudding from next to Boyd across the table to himself without touching it, but it made the whole room spin to do it. He was freezing, barely able to keep himself warm enough to not shiver, thankfully Jackson and Isaac had brought coats despite the fact they didn’t need them, and Stiles had taken them gratefully when they’d both offered. He wanted to tell them so badly what made him this cold, but he couldn’t, not without breaking the bindings, and, without the usual heat of his magic, it was even worse than usual.


	10. Chapter 10

“Hey Stiles.” Danny greeted him happily when he arrived at the library, Danny looked at him in worry, the grin falling from his lips, as Stiles settled in to the seat next to him and opened the book they were supposed to be studying from. Stiles did his best to ignore what felt like an entire orchestra smashing symbols in his ears to concentrate on the words in front of him, he felt like he failed miserably. “What’s up man? You look ill.” 

“No, I’m fine, just, I’ve got a bad head.” Stiles said, rubbing at his eyes wearily, the rest of the pack had pleaded with him to ignore tutoring tonight and come home with them, but Stiles had insisted he was fine. If he was honest, he didn’t want to let any of them down and he was terrified of showing weakness, scared of all of them laughing at him for failing school or making jokes about how he couldn’t even handle a headache. The downside to needing magic to heal, rather than having special werewolf healing abilities, meant that Stiles actually needed magic to heal, and right now, he needed enough magic to get rid of this headache before he exploded. 

Stiles managed to do about a half hour of work before it became blatantly obvious to both of them that no more work was going to get done this evening, Stiles looked on the verge of collapse and Danny was seriously worried about him driving home by himself. 

“Come on, I’ll drive you home, get Jackson to give me a lift back for my car or whatever.” Danny said as he started to pack away their books. 

“I’m fine, I just need a minute.” Stiles said, closing his eyes and trying to stop the world from spinning. 

“Sure, okay, well, let me know when you’re ready and we’ll go to the car.” Danny replied. 

“I can drive Danny, I don’t need you to help me.” Stiles said, getting up and slinging his bag over his shoulder before heading out to the car park, the cool evening air definitely cleared his head a bit, but it made him shiver regardless of the fact it was still plenty warm enough.

“I know you don’t, doesn’t mean I’m not going to though, because you might not need me to help you, but I still want to.” Danny said, standing close enough to Stiles that he could catch him if Stiles collapsed, and he definitely looked close to that. 

“Why?” Stiles asked when they arrived at his jeep and Danny looked at him in confusion, “I mean, why do you want to help me? We barely knew each other before I got taken and it wasn’t like we had a good relationship or anything?” 

“Well,” Danny paused, looking across at where the baseball team were practicing in order to buy himself a few moments without having to look at Stiles, he took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he’d been planning to say for a few weeks now. Trust Stiles to mess up his plans and question him about stuff before Danny had really got a proper plan in place. “The thing is, well, I, these past few weeks, spending time with you, tutoring you and stuff, it made me realise that you’re fun, I mean, you make me laugh, and, well, I kind of, I guess I like you…” He trailed off as he heard someone shout out a warning, watched with surprise as a baseball that had obviously been hit with some force flew through the air towards them. 

Stiles turned just in time to see the ball coming towards them, he used his magic instinctively, stilling the ball in mid-air for the briefest second before his magic faltered and it continued on its trajectory, albeit a hell of a lot slower than it had been coming. Stiles knew how it felt to have his nose broken, he’d experienced it in a hundred different ways in the past year, still, having a baseball hit him square in the face at twenty miles an hour was a new experience for him. He felt his nose break under the impact, blood spurting out in a hundred directions, followed by a split second of numbness before the pain hit and he nearly buckled over with the intensity of it. 

Danny could only watch with horror as the ball struck Stiles and his nose broke instantly, blood exploded everywhere, and Danny felt the coppery taste in his mouth a moment before something seemed to overwhelm him and all he could think about was how desperately he needed to have Stiles. 

Stiles clutched his broken nose, ignoring the tears that filled his eyes with the pain from his injury, he usually would have healed it instantly but he didn’t have enough magic for that and he cursed loudly, he should have stayed in bed today, he knew he should have done. He had just started to use magic to attempt to heal it, managing no more than to fix it enough that he could breathe normally, when suddenly there were lips pressed against his, a tongue trying to force its way in to his mouth, he stepped back, letting go of his nose long enough to realise it was Danny and he stared at him in shock. 

“What the fuck are you…” Stiles started before he saw the droplets of blood splashed across Danny’s cheek and shirt. 

“I need you, god I need you so badly. I want you. I have to have you. I need you now.” Danny muttered, taking a step towards Stiles, Stiles grabbed his wrists, twisting hard enough to stop Danny from touching him. He didn’t know what to do and then he saw a couple of the baseball team coming towards them and he grimaced. 

“Sorry man, are you alright? Hit it at completely the wrong angle!” The first boy called out. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied shortly, using as much magic as he could muster to keep Danny still and silent, ignoring the way his nose was pulsing, he prayed he’d healed it enough that it wouldn’t be obviously broken. 

“You sure? I think your nose might be fractured or something dude, I don’t think it’s broken, but it doesn’t look far off.” The second one said. 

“It’s cool, I bleed easy, probably just knocked it, I’ll go home and get it checked out.” Stiles said, glancing at Danny who looked like he was close to breaking free of Stiles’ magic. 

“We should probably get you checked out by the first aider.” The first boy advised, looking at Danny in befuddlement. 

“I’ll be fine…” Stiles started to say. 

“You have no idea how badly I want to fuck you right now.” Danny blurted out and both boys and Stiles stared at him. 

“Okay, well, um, that’s interesting, let’s go back to mine and um, deal with that.” Stiles rambled, blushing furiously as he manhandled Danny in to the jeep, ignoring the blood still running down his face, ignoring both of the baseball players who were staring at them with wide eyes, instead gunning the engine and driving out of the car park as quickly as he could. 

His magic faltered three times on the way home and Stiles nearly crashed the jeep as Danny tried to climb in to his lap and fuck him right there in the middle of the street, thankfully he managed to regain enough control to keep Danny in his seat until they made it back to the house, but, Stiles’ head was spinning, he was in so much pain he thought he was going to be sick, his entire body was shaking from the exertion of trying to keep his magic up long enough to control Danny and he was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and blood. 

Derek wished he hadn’t let Stiles go to school today, he wished he’d ordered him to stay in bed and rest but he knew he couldn’t do that, Stiles would always do what he wanted to do, it was part of what made Derek love him so much. Still, he’d be much happier when he knew that Stiles was home, instead of at school with Danny. He heard Stiles’ jeep approaching and a moment later the engine cut out and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, moving towards the front door to go check he was indeed okay, knowing Erica would no doubt give him endless abuse about being a worrier. 

Stiles practically fell out of the jeep as his legs buckled, his magic collapsed at the same time he did and suddenly Danny was launching himself over the gearstick and falling out of the jeep after Stiles, landing half on top of him, Stiles let out a gasp of pain as Danny’s weight fell on him and then he felt lips pressed against his own, no doubt getting even more blood in to his system. Stiles tried to push him off, but it felt like his arms weren’t working properly, his head was spinning, he couldn’t think straight, he was going to be sick, he was certain of it. 

“Get off. Danny, get off me. Please, get off.” Stiles tried, feeling so helpless and so pathetic and weak, he could feel tears spilling down his cheeks, but he couldn’t stop them. 

“I need you, god I want you so badly, fuck, fuck I want you.” Danny muttered as he kissed and bit at Stiles’ lips and jaw, “Going to fuck you, going to make it so good.” Danny said, reaching for his jeans, Stiles let out a cry of fear and suddenly Danny’s weight was gone, instead Derek was crouching defensively above him, eyes glowing red, fangs descended, he was growling at Danny who he’d obviously pulled off Stiles and who was now getting back to his feet, ready to renew his attempt to get to Stiles. 

“Touch him again and I’ll rip you apart.” Derek snarled, still crouched above Stiles, not looking at him, instead his gaze fixed on Danny, on the threat. The rest of the pack were gathering in the doorway, looking at Stiles and Danny with confusion, Sam staring at him with terrified eyes and Stiles knew then he had to get up, he had to move, he had to fix this. 

“Blood.” Stiles muttered and Derek glanced at him, obviously seeing Stiles’ blood for the first time, even if he’d probably already smelled it. 

“You’re bleeding I know, tell me what he did to you and I’ll repay the favour.” Derek growled. 

“No, no.” Stiles said, sitting up, ignoring the way the world spun on its axis, “He got splashed with my blood.” He explained, “I didn’t know what to do so I brought him here.” Derek moved slightly, looking at Danny with assessing eyes. 

“Why are you bleeding?” He asked without looking away from Danny. 

“I got hit by a baseball.” Stiles mumbled in embarrassment and he heard several someone’s snort with laughter from the front porch. 

“A baseball?” Derek queried. 

“Yeah, hit my nose, blood went everywhere, Danny must have got some in his mouth.” Stiles continued just as Danny took a step forwards. 

“God, I need you, I have to have you, let me fuck you, I’m going to fuck you.” Danny continued as he tried to get to Stiles, Derek grabbed Danny firmly in his arms to keep him away from Stiles.

“Jackson, Scott, get down here and get him in the house.” Derek ordered, Jackson and Scott hurried towards them, grabbing hold of Danny and hauling him in to the house, Danny shouting the entire time about how he was going to fuck Stiles, that he needed him, that he had to have him. As soon as he was gone from sight Derek turned towards Stiles, reaching gently to touch his jawline and Stiles couldn’t help the slight flush on his cheeks at the contact. 

“I think your nose is broken.” 

“I know.” 

“Why didn’t you heal it?” 

“This is healed, or, slightly at least, I barely had enough magic to keep Danny from jumping me in the car park, I didn’t exactly want to waste it.” Stiles said, grabbing Derek’s offered hand and pulling himself to his feet, if he ended up leaning on Derek slightly he wasn’t going to complain, mainly because it would at least keep him upright. Instantly he started trying to use what magic he had left to try and heal his nose, he felt it work the slightest bit and couldn’t help but feel triumphant, he was going to heal it, it would be fine.

“Melissa can look at it, see if she can at least set it.” Derek said, still staring at Stiles with worry. 

“Chill out worry wolf, I’ll have enough magic in the morning to fix it, I hope. Anyway, we have bigger issues right now.” Stiles said, indicating the house in front of him. 

“I should have realised.” Derek muttered and Stiles looked at him in confusion. 

“Elaborate slightly maybe?” He replied, rubbing a hand across his head wearily. 

“I thought he was doing it himself, I thought he’d hit you or something, I thought you’d tried to get home and he’d come with you, that he was trying to rape you in front of our house, I was ready to kill him, he’s lucky I didn’t kill him the instant I saw him kissing you, heard you begging him to get off.” Derek growled darkly and Stiles grimaced. 

“I didn’t realise you’d heard that.” 

“Of course I did.” Derek replied. “And, god, if I’d killed him, if I’d ripped his throat out like I thought he’d deserved, I would have killed him and he’d have been an innocent, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 

“But you didn’t.” Stiles said, unsure what other comfort he could offer Derek and, really, he was still bleeding so he had bigger issues. “So, don’t worry about it for now, okay?”

“Okay.” Derek muttered in agreement as they stepped in to the house. Jackson and Lydia had tied Danny to a kitchen chair, but he was straining so hard against the ropes that he’d no doubt be left with marks, he also had a gag in and Stiles looked at Scott in confusion as he shoved duct tape over the gag. 

“There’s only so much I can hear about how he’s ‘going to fuck him no matter what’, before I decide killing him might be a better option, nobody gets to talk about you like that, even if it just because of your blood.” Scott paused, “You okay dude?” 

“I’m fine.” Stiles said, feeling like he was going to throw up. 

“Alright, first we deal with you, then we deal with him.” Melissa said, moving towards Stiles with a calculating gaze. 

“Wait, there’s, um, I’ve got blood everywhere.” Stiles mumbled. 

“Good point. Could one of you go grab him a clean shirt and a few towels? Once we get rid of the majority of the blood, we should be able to deal with your nose.” Melissa reassured him. “It’ll probably be easier and less painful for me to cut the shirt off than try and take it off over your head.” Melissa said and Stiles stilled.

“Um, I think, I don’t need to change my shirt, there’s not that much blood on it, right?” Stiles glanced down and stared at the t-shirt he was wearing, it used to be green, now it was some kind of gross reddish brown with splashes of green, okay, so maybe he couldn’t get away with it. He had to decide which was the bigger risk, the pack possibly getting some of his blood in their mouths, or, taking his shirt off and them seeing his scars. 

“It’s going to have to come off Stiles.” Noah said, “Probably better now than after Melissa has set your nose.” 

“Right, okay, just, um.” He paused, “Sam, will you go to bed please? I’ll be up in a little while to tell you a story.” Stiles said. 

“What!? No fair! It’s not even my bed time yet and I don’t want to go to bed yet, I want to stay with you.” Sam whined. 

“I know you do buddy, but, I just, I need some privacy, some grown up private time, so, can you go to bed now please and tomorrow night I’ll let you stay up an hour later? That sound fair? And you don’t even have to go to sleep yet, you can read a book if you want and I’ll come tell you a story in a bit? Please?” 

“Fine.” Sam pouted. “But only because you asked nicely.”

“Thanks kid.” Stiles smiled as Sam moved to give him a hug and then paused, “We’ll have a hug later, when I’m all cleaned up.” 

“Okay.” Sam muttered, disappearing up the stairs. 

“What was that about?” Lydia asked. 

“I, um, maybe I haven’t been upfront with you guys about everything.” Stiles said and they all stilled. “I mean, well, it’s not, it’s not like this particular thing is dangerous to you guys or anything like that, it’s just more of a, erm, self-confidence thing for me I guess.”

“You don’t want us to see you without clothes on.” Scott said simply and Stiles stared at him open mouthed for a second before nodding, “I noticed. You won’t shower after lacrosse, you sleep wearing long-sleeve shirts, and I get that you get cold, but, still, you shouldn’t be that cold in a pile of werewolves. Is it because of Kate? Because of the ‘things’ she did to you? That she made you do? You don’t want to be exposed or vulnerable or whatever?” Scott asked. 

“Not, um, not exactly.” Stiles replied, “So, I’m, erm, one of the reasons that I guess I’m not comfortable with getting naked and stuff is because usually it involved somebody that was in Danny’s current condition and that’s no fun for anybody other than Kate.” Stiles tried to joke but it fell flat. 

“What are the other reasons?” Cora said and Stiles grimaced. 

“It’s going to sound vain, I get that, so don’t laugh.” 

“You’re worried you’re not in as good shape as us werewolves? Stiles, you weren’t in as good shape as me before I was a werewolf.” Jackson said, Stiles thought he was trying to be helpful, but it just made him want to burst in to tears. 

“Not that exactly.” Stiles mumbled, “Um, you remember in the basement, with Gerard, what he did?” He asked Erica and Boyd and they both nodded, “And, dad, you remember what happened at ours, that night, getting shot and everything?” Noah nodded, “And, well, you saw what Kate did, and, well, that wasn’t all of it, there was a lot worse, and, well, I wasn’t allowed to heal all the way all the time, sometimes, a lot of the time, I was only allowed to heal enough that I didn’t die, which meant that, well, a lot of my injuries, they left marks.” Stiles concluded.

“So? You have a few scars, so what? We all do.” Peter said and Stiles looked at him. “Alright, maybe not all of us, but, the humans among us definitely have scars.” 

“Yeah, well, I have a higher than average amount.” Stiles muttered. 

“That doesn’t matter Stiles, you honestly think any of us will care any less about you because you’re a little more scarred than we realised? Besides, I happen to remember how you got at least some of those, and it was protecting us.” Erica said, “So, I’ll be damned if you think you need to be ashamed or embarrassed of them. Now get your shirt off so Melissa can set your nose and then we can deal with Danny.” Erica finished. Stiles tried to focus on that, tried to focus on the fact that they couldn’t help Danny until they’d dealt with Stiles’ nose, it didn’t do much to calm him down, but, still, he tried. 

“Fine, just, I’m preparing you, that’s all. It’s not,” He paused, taking a steadying breath, “It’s not pleasant, so, fair warning.” He said before sitting down in the nearest chair and nodding for Melissa that it was okay to continue. 

Melissa was worried, part of her thought Stiles was exaggerating, but she’d learned recently that Stiles didn’t exaggerate anymore, not really, not since Kate. He tended to under-exaggerate if anything, make out that things weren’t nearly as bad as they were, if he was warning them now, well, she wasn’t sure she was prepared to see what he hid under his shirt. She tried to calm her racing heart, ignore the anger that ran through her body at what Kate had done to one of her boys, she must have hurt him so much more than any of them realised and then she’d made Stiles ashamed of it. She clenched her jaw, gritted her teeth, telling herself that Kate was already dead, that there was nothing she could do, or wish she could do to her, that was going to change that. 

Stiles tried not to flinch when he felt the cold metal of the scissors slice up the material of his shirt, brushing his skin softly, Melissa was obviously trying to do it quickly, efficiently, but he felt her hesitation when his bare skin was revealed. 

Derek stared at the exposed skin in front of him in horror, Stiles’ back was covered in a multitude of scars, there was a large circle in the middle of his back, just lower than his shoulder blades and near his spine, he didn’t need to be a genius to figure out it was the exit wound for the bullet that had torn through Stiles and then hit Noah, the bullet that should have killed both of them. Surrounding that mark were several scars which Derek could only guess were from being whipped, judging by the looks on Erica and Boyd’s faces, they were probably from the night in the basement. There were more recent scars, ones that looked like claw marks, some that looked like bite marks, one clear one on his collarbone and another deep one at his side and Derek couldn’t help but be reminded that Stiles had been bitten by other Alpha’s and hadn’t been turned, he wondered if these were the scars from them, or from something or somebody else, maybe it was Kate’s teeth that had torn in to Stiles’ flesh, Derek wasn’t sure and he couldn’t know for definite without asking. 

Stiles’ entire back and sides were marked in one way or another and Derek wanted to hold him close, tell him how much he loved him, protect him from ever getting hurt again. Instead he moved closer, examining the scars on Stiles’ arms which seemed to stop part way down his forearms, it looked like somebody had sliced into his skin systematically, repeatedly, constantly just below the previous injury and Stiles blushed when Derek reached out and touched his arm softly. 

“What happened here?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“I can’t remember, I think that was when she tried feeding my blood to the vampire she had captive.” He replied quietly and Derek seethed silently, he should have killed her slowly, made her beg for death, he wished he’d been able to. 

“Stiles.” Noah whined, staring at his son’s chest with grief, Stiles’ chest was as bad as his back if not worse. There were more scars, claw marks, knife wounds, bite marks, a small circular hole near his sternum that was obviously where the bullet had struck him, the area surrounding it looked slightly damaged too, like something had dug in to him and made the hole bigger, and, just to the right of that, the Hale triskelion had been burned in to his skin. Noah knew the moment that Derek saw that particular mark, he could tell from the way the Alpha tensed, his whole body rigid and his eyes fixed on that one particular spot. Noah didn’t even want to think about how brutal that particular injury must have been for Stiles, especially considering the triskelion was dark black against the paleness of his chest. 

“What is that!?” Scott squeaked in surprise.

“It’s a triskelion, the same one Derek has.” Stiles muttered sounding devastated, staring at the floor.

“Is it a burn? Why is it black like that?” Jackson asked in evident confusion. 

“Yeah, it’s a burn, she, um, Kate put some ink on my skin first and then burned it, it’s kind of like…a very crudely done homemade tattoo.” Stiles explained. 

“Why?” Derek snarled angrily and Stiles stared at him in shock, he knew Derek would be disgusted by what he saw, but he didn’t expect him to be angry, “Why did she give you that?” Derek growled and Stiles shrugged.

“I don’t know.” He lied. 

“Stiles.” Derek growled, “Why. Did. She. Give. You. That. Brand.” His eyes glowed red and Stiles ducked his gaze submissively, he really didn’t want to upset Derek when he was bound to him, he didn’t want to follow any orders that may come afterwards if he disobeyed. 

“She said,” Stiles hesitated uncomfortably, “Well, erm, she said it was a reminder, about how little I mattered, how I could wear the Hale brand and I still wouldn’t be pack, that I’d never be pack, that I didn’t matter and you didn’t care, you’d never cared. I could be branded as a member of the Hale pack and you’d still not bother coming for me.” Stiles confessed. 

“That bitch.” Noah cursed, “That fucking bitch, god, I should have ripped her apart piece by piece.” He snapped, his eyes flashing bright blue as his wolf demanded control, demanded vengeance.

“We all should have.” Isaac agreed. 

“She should have been made to suffer so much more.” Melissa muttered murderously and Stiles shrugged. 

“It doesn’t matter, I mean, it’s not like the majority of them hurt anymore.” He said, rubbing a hand over the bullet scar on his chest subconsciously. 

“That’s not the point.” Erica snarled, “The things she did to you! She should have paid for them, a hundred, no, a thousand times over, and we didn’t do enough. We should have done more. We should have come for you Stiles, god, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. We let you down.” 

“But you came. That’s what matters. I’m bound to Derek instead of her now. That’s because of you guys. You saved me from her.” He said still rubbing at his chest. 

“Why are you doing that?” Derek asked and Stiles stilled. 

“What?” He asked in confusion, grabbing a towel and pressing it to his face, cleaning up as much of his blood as he could. 

“Rubbing your chest. Does that one still hurt?” Derek queried. 

“Not the injury exactly.” Stiles admitted, “But, well, you guys know she put a tracker in me.” He said and there was silence as they processed what he said. 

“What?” Cora whispered horrified. 

“The ritual to bind my magic, you know, they needed heart’s blood, and, the bullet wound, it was close enough that they could get a tube to my heart, and, so, well, while the wound was there, she put in the tracker, deep enough that it’s not easy to get out, shallow enough that it can still get a signal.” Stiles explained. 

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Jackson said in disgust, “Next you’re going to tell us the reason you’re always cold is because she put a block of ice in there while she was at it!” He ranted and Stiles opened his mouth before closing it silently, “Did she…is there a block of ice in there?” Jackson asked in uncertainty. 

“Not a block of ice exactly.” Stiles said quietly and they all looked horrified. 

“What is in there?” Boyd asked in a small voice and Stiles opened and closed his mouth a few times before shaking his head helplessly. “You’re not allowed to talk about it?” Stiles nodded and they all frowned. “Something to do with Gerard?” Stiles nodded again before wincing and black lines began to appear on his skin.

“At least we know you’re always cold for a reason.” Peter muttered and Stiles let out a hollow laugh. 

“My magic usually keeps me at least sort of warm. It’s like a warmth in my chest, right here.” He said, just below the triskelion and Derek couldn’t help but look at Stiles’ bare skin. Admittedly Stiles was scarred, he’d obviously suffered at Kate’s hands, but, god, he was incredibly attractive and it was so obvious that Derek couldn’t tear his eyes away. Stiles hid his scars under his clothes, but he also hid the broadness of his shoulders, his slim hips, his washboard stomach, the trail of dark hair that disappeared under the waistband of his jeans, not to mention his forearms. Derek had always been drawn in by Stiles’ hands, always paying attention to the way his hands moved manically as he spoke, but now he couldn’t help but notice his forearms, staring at the lean muscles, pale skin that was smattered with small moles and dark hair, he was entranced by them, by Stiles in general. 

Danny groaned through the gag in the corner of the room and Derek’s gaze shifted automatically to him, Danny was pulling on the ropes so strenuously that Derek knew that if he had werewolf strength, he would have torn through them already. 

“Right, let’s get you cleaned up and then we can deal with him, okay?” Melissa said, still looking incredibly upset, “I can’t believe she did this to you, god I want to bring her back from the dead just to kill her myself.” She muttered under her breath as she put on a pair of medical gloves and wiped some of the blood from Stiles’ face. 

“It’s not a big deal.” Stiles replied quietly, leaning back in his chair and holding the bridge of his nose, “Besides, she already came back from the dead once, I really want her to stay dead this time.” He said and Melissa let out a sad laugh. 

“Yeah, I agree with you on that one.” She said and Stiles grinned. 

“So, what’s the damage doc?” He asked, wincing slightly as she pressed on his nose. 

“I don’t think it’s broken, maybe fractured, I think you got lucky maybe, or maybe you managed to heal it a bit before you got back here?” She queried. 

“A little bit, not much, but I’m pretty sure it was broken before.” He explained. 

“Okay, well, brace yourself.” She said barely giving him a second before she gripped his nose tightly and pushed. They all heard the slight pop and Stiles winced, scrunching his eyes shut as Melissa set his nose, keeping it as quick and painless as possible. He blinked back tears for a few moments before inhaling slightly to see how it felt, it was a bit sore but no more than he expected and a hell of a lot better than it could have been. “Better?” Melissa asked and Stiles nodded, taking the shirt that Peter held out gratefully and buttoning it up as quickly as he could to cover his scars, he was certain the pack were all still staring at them. 

“Can I ask...” Allison said and Stiles glanced at her, raising an eyebrow in question, “Why don’t you heal your scars? I mean, not right this minute, when your magic is back at full power, but you’re not bound to her anymore, you can heal yourself, Derek will let you, so, why don’t you?” Stiles grimaced, knowing someone was going to answer that question. 

“Well, it’s complicated.” He shrugged. 

“We’ve got time.” Scott said. 

“Okay, so, Kate always told me that I had to heal to the point that I wasn’t going to bleed out, but I wasn’t allowed to heal completely. Not unless she ordered me too. So, if I was ever hurt, I had to wait for her to tell me to heal, and, then I could only heal to a certain point, unless she said otherwise. Once the scars are there, well, I don’t think I can heal them any further, like I said, most of them don’t hurt any more, there’s nothing to heal, I can’t force my body to heal injuries that aren’t there. And, the ones that do still kind of hurt from time to time, to heal them, I would have had to ask Derek to lift the order that stops me from healing completely and to do that I’d have had to explain why she’d issued it in the first place and then he’d no doubt find out about my scars, and, like I said, it’s more of a self-confidence thing, I don’t exactly think they are my best feature and I didn’t want anyone seeing them, because, you know, it’s not, they’re not, it’s not a pretty sight.” Stiles rambled. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Peter scoffed and Stiles looked at him in surprise. “So, you’ve got some scars, it definitely doesn’t make you any less attractive. I’d still sleep with you if that was an option.” He said bluntly and Stiles gaped at him, blushing brightly before he shifted uncomfortably, moving to pick the bloodied towels up. 

“Um, thanks, I think?” 

“It was a compliment Stiles, trust me, I don’t have sex with everyone I meet. Not like Derek.” Peter replied and Derek turned to stare at him. 

“What!?” Derek flushed and Peter winced. 

“Sorry, sorry, I forgot I wasn’t supposed to know that!” He mumbled in embarrassment. 

“Know what? What are you talking about!?” Lydia queried, “Derek doesn’t have sex with anyone?” 

“Well, not now.” Peter said. 

“Not ever!” Cora said bluntly and Derek blushed brighter. 

“That’s not, um, strictly true.”

“Alright, there was Kate, but, since her?” Cora asked. 

“Believe me, you do not want to know what your brother gets up to in New York or used to get up to anyway.” Peter said and Derek wished the ground would swallow him up, he was so embarrassed. 

“How do you know what he gets up to? You don’t go with him?” Allison said and it was Peter’s turn to flush, but they could all smell the shame coming from him and Derek found he was curious, how did Peter know what he used to do? 

“Laura.” Peter stated, “Or, more simply, her memories. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about the transfer of memories along with the transfer of Alpha powers?” Peter said and they all looked at him blankly apart from Stiles who nodded quietly. 

“I’ve seen it.” He whispered sounding horrified and none of them wanted to ask what that particular memory was about, “It’s not a certainty, and the Alpha who dies has to have a pack, they can’t be rogue like you were, which is why Derek didn’t experience it when he killed you.” 

“Exactly.” Peter agreed, “When a wolf kills an Alpha, they become the Alpha, the Alpha powers get transferred, we all know this, yes?” Everyone nodded. “If the Alpha that died had strong bonds with their pack then the new Alpha will receive glimpses of those memories, it’s not like the dead Alpha’s entire life, and it’s not every memory they ever had, but, it’s enough. When I…” Peter paused looking pained, “When I killed Laura…” He winced with grief, “I got her powers, I also got flashes of some of her memories, not all of them, but, some. Of her, of her pack. And, well, at that point, she only had Derek, he’s the only pack member she had, she’d only been Alpha since Talia died, so, the memories were of her becoming Alpha and the time since then, mainly of what she saw in New York.” He admitted. Derek stared at him in silence, trying to process what had been said, his thoughts stuck on his sister, on how much he’d loved her, on how much he’d let her down, how he hadn’t been there with her at the end, that is should have been him that died. He wished it had been. 

“Did you…” He started, clearing his throat before trying again, “What did you see?” 

“She knew you blamed yourself if that’s what you mean. She hated that you punished yourself like that. That you couldn’t let anybody in. She blamed herself. She wished she could get you to open up, to talk to her, to believe her when she said it wasn’t your fault.” Peter paused, “I always wondered why she seemed so certain you blamed yourself, from what I saw, it didn’t look like you did, it looked like you were going out a lot and enjoying yourself, I thought she was being over-dramatic as usual. Then I found out what Kate did. What she did to you. And I assumed that Laura must have had some idea about what had happened. That’s why she thought you blamed yourself, because you did, and, the sleeping around, I guess that was your way of easing your guilt.” 

“So, you’re telling us, Laura knew that Kate used Derek, that she’d manipulated him and used him and that he’d blamed himself enough that it was obvious to his older sister that he was carrying this huge burden, and she didn’t decide to talk to him about it?” Stiles asked incredulously and Derek looked at him in surprise, was Stiles not bothered about the fact he’d used sex as a way of dealing with everything?

“Talking was never Derek’s strong point.” Cora muttered and Peter glared at her. 

“That’s not true. Derek was always talkative, he closed himself off after Paige died, and that’s how Kate got to him, but, before Paige, I remember him as being defiant, smart, talkative, maybe not on the same level as our dear Stiles here, but, still, he always had an opinion on something, we had many great debates that could go on for hours. Stiles is right, Laura should have said something, you should have talked it through.” Peter argued. 

“Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it.” Derek said quietly, “Maybe she knew if we’d talked, she would have had to admit it was my fault.” He shrugged as casually as possible. 

“Don’t be stupid.” Stiles snarled. “It wasn’t your fault Derek. She manipulated you. The same way she manipulated everyone she came in to contact with.”

“She didn’t manipulate you. She had to bind you to her to get you to do what she wanted.” Derek replied. 

“You think she didn’t manipulate me? You have no idea some of the things she made me do. She gave me impossible choices and I tried to do the least wrong one. I still ended up doing what she wanted though. She was a manipulative, evil bitch and Laura should have made sure you knew it wasn’t your fault.” 

“She maybe didn’t know how…” Derek tried to reason. 

“No! Don’t give me that shit!” Stiles argued, “She was your Alpha Derek! The two of you were the only pack the other had! She was your Alpha and she should have sat you down and told you it wasn’t your fault! She should have made sure you knew! You’re my Alpha and you’ve made sure that I know it wasn’t my fault and the things I’ve done; it was a hell of a lot more my fault than it ever was yours! I know she was your sister but god damn it she let you down and if she was still alive, I’d give her a big piece of my mind!” Stiles said and Derek stared at him in astonishment, “Sorry.” He muttered a moment later, worried that he’d upset him. 

“It’s fine. Anyway, we’re getting off track. Laura probably had her reasons for not saying anything.” Derek shrugged.

“She was worried she’d push you further away. She was worried she’d lose you too. She didn’t feel like she was good enough to be your Alpha, that she’d let you down by letting Kate take advantage of you in the first place. She was scared that if she spoke to you about it, you’d realise it was her fault, for not watching out for you the way a sister should have done, she was scared of losing you.” Peter explained and Stiles bit his bottom lip apologetically. 

“I’m sorry for bad mouthing her.” He said. 

“It’s okay, I didn’t realise she knew.” Derek replied. 

“Besides, I think we’re still off track. The point was that none of us are bothered by Stiles’ scars because he’s still attractive and none of us would say no if you wanted to have sex with us, including Peter, who apparently doesn’t sleep around as much as Derek.” Lydia said, “Which, now we’ve cleared that up, are you still sleeping around? Because if you’re going to be bringing people back to the house, we need warning.” She continued and they all gaped at her. 

“Um, again, I think I should say thanks?” Stiles said and Lydia smiled. 

“It’s true. Apart from Scott, but that’s because you two are basically blood and that would be weird.” She amended and Scott grinned. 

“I’m glad you said that.” Scott teased. “Apart from me, and your dad and my mom because that’s also weird. Not…I don’t mean the two of you are weird…you’re not, you’re both great, you know that, great together too, I just meant…if either of you wanted to sleep with Stiles, that would be weird.” 

“Thanks for clarifying that Scott.” Noah smirked and Scott blushed, ducking his gaze to the floor. “But Lydia makes a valid point.” He continued, looking to Derek and unable to hide the grin on his lips, knowing Derek was in love with his son was one thing, knowing Stiles had absolutely no clue about it and Noah could wind Derek up about it was another thing completely. “Are you planning on bringing strangers back here every night? It obviously can’t be every night, but, what about when you’re in New York for meetings? Do you take strangers back to the flat? Kick her or him out in the morning?” 

“Wow. Okay, this is kind of personal guys. You don’t see me quizzing you guys about your sex lives.” Derek said, trying to change the subject.

“I don’t have a sex life so I can’t be quizzed.” Isaac teased and Noah along with the rest of the pack laughed, “Besides, do we need to worry about keeping strictly human around strangers?” 

“Look…god…this is so personal, but I always want you to be honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you.” He took a steadying breath, trying to collect his thoughts for a moment before he began, “After Kate, after realising what she’d done, how she’d used me, I didn’t ever want to be used like that again, so, I made sure I couldn’t be. I made sure that I used people instead. After the fire, Laura and I moved a lot and then ended up in New York. I was going to college in the days and Laura was working night shifts at a garage nearby to pay the bills. I couldn’t stay in the loft at night, it was so empty, so quiet, all I could think was that they were all dead and it was my fault. So I started going to college and I’d stay late to get my work done and then I’d go straight out to different clubs, I never had any issues getting in, most of them were supernatural clubs, it didn’t matter your age, so long as you had some kind of supernatural abilities they let you in. That’s when it started. I had sex with a lot of people, but just one night, it was never more than that, I didn’t build relationships, I just had sex with whoever I picked out that night. I went to their flat or house or whatever because I wanted to leave as soon as things were done, I never wanted to let anyone in. So, yeah, I slept around, but it stopped. It stopped almost as soon as I met St…” Derek coughed uncomfortably, “As soon as I met Stiles and Scott in the woods.” He changed his sentence hoping Stiles didn’t pick up on it, “When I realised Scott was freshly bitten, I knew he’d need help, I wanted to be around to help, even though Stiles was way more help than me, but, still, I didn’t think sleeping my way through Beacon Hills was going to win me any friends.” 

“I’m pretty sure the majority of the school wouldn’t have complained if they’d got to have sex with you, even if it was just one night.” Erica said and Derek flushed. 

“I changed. I know that sounds ridiculous, but, I guess, I used to sleep around because I couldn’t bear the thought of trusting anyone, of making myself vulnerable, except, I came back here and my priority was killing the Alpha that killed Laura, I wasn’t planning on sleeping with anyone, and then everything happened, meeting Scott and Stiles, finding out Peter was the Alpha, him trying to manipulate Scott, killing Peter and becoming Alpha and then, well, everything changed. I was an Alpha. I had territory. I went to one or two meetings in New York and I hooked up with a couple of different people, but I’d leave as soon as I could.” Derek couldn’t exactly admit that the people he’d slept with had had startling similarities to Stiles, “Then I turned Erica and Boyd and Isaac, I’d bitten Jackson, Scott was still a new wolf, Stiles was always getting himself into some mischief and I just, I went back to New York to meet with a client and all could I think was that I couldn’t wait to get home, going out to meet someone was the last thing on my mind and then, it just seemed ridiculous. I didn’t want to go have sex with strangers. I had a pack at home and people I cared about, that I loved, that I still love, even more than I did then, and having sex with people I’d never met before just wasn’t appealing. I wanted to get home to see my pack.” Derek explained and they all stared at him. 

“That’s great Derek.” Allison said, “I mean, that you’ve forgiven yourself so that you’re not doing that anymore, and, that, you know, I’m just, very happy that you’re not in that head space anymore.” 

“Me too.” He admitted. “So, there you go, now you have the truth and there’s no need to worry about me bringing strangers into our home, okay?” He said and Lydia nodded. 

“Good to know. Now, how do we deal with Danny?” She replied, nodding in the direction of where Danny was still tied to the chair. Stiles startled guiltily, if he was honest, he’d sort of forgotten about Danny, it wasn’t like it had slipped his mind completely, but, with having to expose his scars to the pack and then when Peter had mentioned that Derek slept with lots of people, Stiles’ mind had kind of stalled. Okay, he knew Derek probably had sex with whoever he felt like, the man was gorgeous and dangerous and kind and caring and Stiles thought he was pretty damn amazing, so it really didn’t surprise Stiles that Derek could have whoever he wanted. Still, hearing Derek open up, admit that he’d slept around with people because he couldn’t stand an empty flat, couldn’t bear the loneliness and had always made sure that he’d been the one to use people, it had made him forget about Danny for a minute because all he could think about was how he wished he’d known Derek then, wished he’d been able to tell him it was going to be okay, even now he wanted to hug him, hold him tight and tell him that he would always have them and he’d never have to feel like that again. Thank god they had Lydia to keep them on track. 

“Does your blood wear off eventually?” Jackson asked looking nervous as Danny was red in the face with his exertion as he’d tried to free himself of the ropes his gaze still fixed firmly on Stiles, the gag digging in deeply and preventing him from speaking. 

“He seems to be more agitated than he was before.” Melissa said, moving forward and checking Danny’s eyes, “His pupils are dilated, like he’s taken something, he didn’t take any drugs that you’re aware of?” 

“No, that’ll be my blood. It acts like a drug.” Stiles muttered. “It’s addictive, apparently, or, according to Kate…and the experiments, so, yeah, it’s addictive. It’s not so bad if you only have it once, but, two or three times in a few days and you’re addicted. Then you start getting withdrawals if you don’t have it on a regular basis.” 

“Alright, so, do we just wait for it to wear off and make sure he never has it again?” Cora said and Stiles shook his head. 

“No, it won’t wear off, it’ll just get worse.” Stiles said. 

“How do you know? It could wear off.” Jackson said hopefully. 

“No. It won’t. Kate, she, um, she experimented. Repeatedly.” He confessed in a hushed whisper. 

“What happens then? If it doesn’t wear off?” Allison queried. 

“It’ll get worse. He’ll get more desperate. Most of them made it to about forty-eight hours before their hearts gave out, none of them lasted less than forty hours so we have time yet.” Stiles said. 

“Time for what?” Noah asked, trying not to imagine how many people Kate had experimented on, trying not to think about how much his son had no doubt suffered during his time with her. Stiles hesitated, clenching his hands in to fists and grimacing slightly as if he was bracing himself, convincing himself. 

“For me to have sex with him.” Stiles said eventually. 

“What!?” “No.” “That’s not happening.” “You can’t have sex with him!” “Stiles!” “That’s ridiculous.” The pack all shouted in uproar and Stiles sighed heavily. 

“That’s the only way to stop it, break the spell or magic or whatever.” Stiles said. 

“Derek snapped out of it!” Lydia said, “With Kate, when she made him taste your blood, he snapped out of it. He didn’t rape you, he stopped himself before he got that far.” 

“Yeah I know. I’m sort of hoping Danny will snap out of it before it gets to sex, but I have no idea how Derek broke out of it. Do you know how you did it?” Stiles asked and Derek flushed. 

“Not really no. I just remember thinking how I really didn’t want to do that to you and you were trying to make it so I wouldn’t feel guilty and just, yeah, I just, I don’t know, it kind of felt like, I’m not sure how to describe it, I could still feel my wolf wanting to be in charge, but, I managed to control that side of me, push it down enough, focus on how I didn’t want to hurt you, and, then, it just sort of faded.” Derek replied. 

“Alright, so, maybe, if I try the same thing with Danny, that, it’s sort of consensual, obviously not for him, but, from my end, maybe he’ll snap out of it too?” 

“You’re really willing to risk that? What if he doesn’t?” Scott said. 

“Well, the other option is that he dies so I’m willing to risk it.” Stiles replied. 

“But, hang on, Kate didn’t rape you and she didn’t die, so, how did she not die if she had your blood?” Isaac asked, Stiles sighed deeply as if this was the last thing he wanted to talk about but also knowing that he had to if he wanted to save Danny.

“When somebody tastes my blood, apart from Derek for whatever reason, for it to wear off they have to have an orgasm, or they keep trying to get to me until their heart gives out…”

“Okay, so, we lock him in a room without being tied up and he can give himself an orgasm and it’s done with.” Erica said. 

“No. Kate tried that. Believe me, she experimented. A lot. She first got a taste about nine months ago, until then, none of them had realised what my blood did.” Stiles paused, taking a steadying breath before continuing, “She didn’t know the kind of reaction she’d have and neither did I, I wasn’t expecting her to jump on me. Thankfully, I was too horrified to have a ‘happy’ reaction to that particular incident despite the fact she tried very hard to get me ‘happy’, so, she ended up just sort of holding me in place with her claws and grinding against me until she had an orgasm and then she came back to her senses and she just started laughing, she was so excited.”

“She was so fucked up.” Boyd muttered and Stiles nodded in agreement. 

“Anyway, after that, the experiments started. Before it had been about what happened with my magic and the bindings, you know, what I could and couldn’t do, what she could make me do, after that moment, she had a whole new load of tests she wanted to try out. You know how I said there is certain things my master can’t make me do…”

“Can’t make you kill, can’t make you bring people back from the dead, can’t make people fall in love with them and can’t get you excited against your will.” Allison surmised. 

“Yeah, well, it’s similar with my blood, there’s a few basic points we discovered. One, if someone tastes my blood, they will lose themselves, they’ll go almost feral in a way and it won’t stop until they’ve had an orgasm or they’re dead. Two, they can’t just have an orgasm by themselves or with someone else, I have to be within touching distance, as in, they have to be touching me, my bare skin, when they have an orgasm, otherwise it doesn’t work, and they just stay feral. And three, this one is slightly more complicated, if two people were to get a taste of my blood, and they couldn’t get to me, they’d be automatically be drawn to each other, please don’t ask me to explain how Kate found out about this.” Stiles shuddered, “I can still see it when I close my eyes so don’t make me tell you. The two infected people will have sex repeatedly until the blood is completely faded, usually it’s around five to six orgasms with no recovery time. It’s pretty brutal and a few of them didn’t survive.” 

“So you’re telling me our choice are we either let Danny die, you try and work whatever you did with Derek and maybe it works or, maybe it doesn’t and he rapes you because he won’t care about whether or not you get ‘happy’ about it, or one of us takes your blood and we have sex with him instead?” Jackson said looking distraught. 

“Simply put, yes.” Stiles agreed and there was silence as everyone tried to process what Stiles had said. 

“Alright, give me some of your blood and I’ll do it.” Jackson said looking solemn. 

“You can’t.” Stiles replied. 

“He’s my best friend! I’m not about to let him die! I’ll do it, if it’s necessary, I’ll do it.” Jackson argued. 

“No, I mean, you can’t do it. It’ll drive you feral Jacks, you saw what it did to Derek. You won’t be in control. You’ll kill him long before the blood wears off. The only reason I didn’t die when Kate first got a taste was because I could heal. Danny won’t and I haven’t got enough magic to heal him.” Stiles whispered and Jackson stilled looking horrified, obviously not having thought of that. 

“Alright well we just get someone else to do it instead. You’re not risking it.” Noah said. 

“Who do you want to do it instead dad?” Stiles muttered, “None of the wolves can do it. Human wise we have Lydia, Allison, Melissa and me. I know he’s not in his right mind right now, but I’m still pretty certain he’s not going to want a girl having sex with him no matter what’s going through his system at the moment, and I wouldn’t put any of them through that, not if I can help it. I’m sure as hell not going to go out and infect some random on the street just so that they can have sex, which would mean both of them would end up doing things against their will.” Stiles said, rubbing at his temples in weariness, he wished his headache would go away already, he wished his magic would come back and give him a way to fix this. 

“Meaning you’ll do it instead? You’ll risk him raping you? Hurting you?” Noah asked sounding tearful. 

“What choice do I have? I can’t let him die. Maybe doing the same thing I did with Derek, making it half-way consensual, maybe it’ll be enough to snap him out of it. I don’t know, but I do know I’m not going to let him die because I was stupid enough to get hit by a baseball.” Stiles replied. 

“I don’t like it. Couldn’t we just, I don’t know, let him give himself an orgasm and have you within touching distance?” Noah suggested. 

“If Stiles is within touching distance, Danny isn’t going to be thinking about touching himself.” Peter said simply. “He’s basically feral right now, all he wants is sex with Stiles, putting him next to Stiles, untied, it’s going to end in one thing and one thing only. He will rape you Stiles. Derek was an exception to the rule, maybe because he’s an Alpha?” 

“It wasn’t because he’s an Alpha. That’s been tried before.” Stiles muttered darkly. Derek fought the urge to rip and tear apart everything he could get his hands on at that confession, and he knew he wasn’t the only one. Kate had died much too easily. “Besides, the same thing applies now that I said then, Danny isn’t in his right mind, he’s being forced to do this, but I can make this my choice. It’s not rape, not if I want it.” He said, his voice cracking only slightly.

“But you don’t want it!” Scott argued. 

“I know that.” Stiles replied heatedly, “But there’s no choice. It’s either this or he dies. I’ve witnessed it first-hand and it’s not pleasant. I’m not letting Danny die. Not because of my mistake. Too many people have already died because of me. I can help him. I’m going to help him. That’s what I WANT. I want to help him. If that means having sex with him then I will just have to deal with it.” 

“I forbid you to do this Stiles.” Derek said and Stiles gaped at him, “I can do that, can’t I? I can order you not to let him touch you, not to let him rape you? Just, I’m ordering you not to do this, please.”

“Then you’re ordering Danny’s death.” Stiles replied coldly and Derek stared at him in dismay. 

“I don’t want you to do this.” Derek tried again. 

“I don’t want to do it either. But I’m not going to let him die. I made the same choice with you, remember? Okay, admittedly, Kate wasn’t going to let you live long enough for your heart to give out, but, I could have told her to stop you at any point, I could have asked her to kill you to save myself, and your life was worth whatever I went through. I’d go through it all again right now if it meant that you were alive. How can I not attempt to do the same for Danny?” Stiles explained.

“I know…god…I know you’re right. But I don’t want you to do this, I’d rather he died than risk him raping you. What if it doesn’t work? What if he doesn’t snap out of it? What if he rapes you and then realises what he’s done and hates you for it?” Derek continued. 

“At least he’ll be alive to hate me.” Stiles said, “I know this is a shit option guys, believe me, if there was another way I’d very much like to hear it, but, this is my mess, my fault, I need to do my best to fix it, which means this needs to happen, okay?” 

“Fine.” “I guess.” “I wish there was another way.” “We can’t let him die.” “It’s not the best plan.” “How do we do this?” “Sure.” There were several mumbles and Stiles nodded seriously. 

“No time like the present then I guess.” He said taking a step towards Danny. 

“What? Right here? In the middle of the kitchen?” Jackson said. 

“You’d prefer I take him to bed and seduce him?” Stiles muttered sarcastically and Jackson flushed. 

“No, I just, Danny kind of wouldn’t want us all watching him have sex…”

“It’s not going to get to that though, right?” Scott said optimistically and Stiles shrugged hopefully. 

“Okay, so, maybe one of the rooms down here instead?” Stiles said, trying to be brave when, really, he was terrified, he didn’t want to do this, he wanted to go to bed, feel Derek’s arms around him, he wanted to break down and sob until he couldn’t cry any more tears. Instead he was going to have to kiss Danny, maybe have sex with Danny, this wasn’t how he’d imagined losing his virginity, but, what else could he do? He couldn’t let Danny die, not because of his own stupid mistake. 

“You can use my office.” Peter said, stepping forward and grabbing one side of Danny’s chair, motioning for Isaac to help on the other side, they could all smell the fear, no, the terror, wafting from Stiles, it made Peter feel nauseous, but, he knew there was no way he was going to dissuade Stiles from doing this, the sooner they dealt with it the better, maybe Stiles was right and this was going to work, that Danny would be able to snap out of it like Derek had, Peter prayed he would. 

“Thanks.” Stiles said as they set Danny’s chair down in the middle of the carpeted area. Stiles looked around, there was a small sofa behind him and a desk to his left that Peter would sit at and be able to look out on to the lawn. “This’ll be fine.” Stiles said nervously, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans and trying to stop his stomach from twisting viciously. “You want to give us some privacy?” He asked the pack that were gathered in the doorway. 

“If it doesn’t work, if it’s going too far and he doesn’t snap out of it, I’ll come stop him.” Derek said firmly. 

“You do that, and he dies.” Stiles replied equally as firmly. “This has to happen. One way or the other. So, just, um, you guys go to bed or whatever. I’ll…god…I’ll deal with this.” 

“No, not a chance. I’m not leaving you to deal with this by yourself.” Derek snapped, “You don’t want me to stop him if he doesn’t snap out of it and rapes you,” Derek gritted his teeth, “Fine. I won’t. Because you’ve asked me not to. But I am not going to let you deal with this by yourself. I’ll be right outside the second this is done. Got it.” 

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded dumbly as Derek marched to the door and shoved the pack out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Stiles took a few steadying breaths before he moved towards Danny, staring at the way the ropes practically cut in to him as he strained against them, ignoring the way that Danny’s eyes followed his every movement. “I know you’re in there, I know you can hear me, I know you’ll have heard the whole conversation and I know you’re probably as terrified about all of this as I am. I’m sorry. You have to know that Danny. I’m so fucking sorry. I wish that I could give you some kind of choice in this. That I could ask you what you want. But you’re not really making any sense, so I can’t. But, I know that you don’t want me to do this, I get that, but, it’s the only way to keep you alive, so, I’m going to untie you, and, well, what happens after that, that’s what happens, I’m okay with it. I hope at some point in the future you’ll be able to forgive me and be okay with it too.” Stiles paused, bracing himself, “Here goes nothing then I guess.” He leaned forwards, using a little magic to undo the knots that held Danny in place. 

Danny surged to his feet the instant he was free, slamming in to Stiles before Stiles had really had time to brace himself, wincing as Danny’s nose bumped his and he cursed silently. He tried not to flinch as Danny’s hands went to his hips, to his ass, grabbing him tightly and pushing him towards the sofa, he tried to calm his racing heart, tried to tell himself that he was okay with this, that it was the only way to save Danny’s life. 

“Okay, just, it’s okay.” Stiles muttered, not sure if he was trying to reassure Danny or himself, either way, he didn’t think it was working. Stiles stumbled as the back of his legs hit of the sofa and he went down hard, Danny falling on top of him, kissing him brutally as Stiles tried not to whimper in pain and fear. 

“I want you, god, I need you so badly.” Danny said and Stiles reached up, trying to repeat the same thing he did with Derek, tangling his fingers in Danny’s hair and kissing him as calmly as he could. 

“It’s okay, it’s alright, it’s okay.” He whispered, trying to slow their kiss, instead Danny kept kissing him, pinning him to the sofa, pulling at his shirt, at his jeans, already unbuckling his own jeans as he tried to pull Stiles’ clothes off. “It’s alright Danny, it’s okay.” Stiles tried to reassure him, “Shit.” He muttered as Danny’s hands gripped too tightly and Stiles knew he was going to be left with bruises. “Danny, it’s okay, just, slow down, alright, slow down.” Stiles tried to persuade him, breaking their kiss as much as he could, wincing when Danny continued to kiss him, his lips, his jaw, his neck, sucking and biting a little too hard.

“I need you, I want you so badly.” Danny said, grinding his hips against Stiles’, Stiles did his best to calm his fear, to slow his pounding heart, but all he could feel was Danny’s hands on his skin, touching him, groping him, grinding against him, and he felt sick, his head was spinning, his nose hurt and even though he knew it was the only way to save Danny, he really, really didn’t want this to happen. He couldn’t help the gasp of pain he let out when Danny’s teeth scraped his skin and he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on the reasons he was doing this, rather than the sensations he was experiencing right now, the feelings that made his stomach churn and his chest heave in panic. He fought the urge to push Danny off him, fought the desire to pull Danny’s hands from his skin and make sure he never touched him again, instead he tried to breathe steadily when Danny’s hands went to his belt buckle and started to undo his jeans. 

“Danny, Danny, please, slow down, okay, just, slow down, please.” Stiles tried, he was trying not to show his terror, he knew this wasn’t what Danny wanted either, but he was terrified, and he’d really hoped that Danny would be able to snap out of it like Derek had. The first time it happened with Kate was the only time she’d ever let him be alone for it to happen, she’d never been willing to leave him alone with someone else because she was going to be the one who got to take his virginity, there was no way she was going to let someone else take it before she did. Stiles had actually thought she’d changed her mind the night with Mike and Henry, decided that she didn’t care about taking his virginity anymore, so long as she could use it to get at the pack. Now, Stiles was going to have sex for the first time on the sofa in Peter’s office with a barely healed nose and with Danny who was infected with his blood and who probably wanted this to happen even less than Stiles did. 

Danny’s fingers pulled at the elastic of Stiles’ boxers but before he could get any further he was ripped clean away from Stiles, Stiles looked upwards in surprise, not sure what had happened, surprised to see his dad standing above him, eyes glowing bright blue and looking furious, Danny scrambled back to his feet, moving back towards Stiles before Jackson barged in to the room and grabbed him, holding him tightly in order to keep him still while the rest of the pack hovered in the doorway nervously. 

“What are you doing?” Stiles gasped, standing upright and trying to ignore the sense of relief he felt, it was only postponing the inevitable, they would have to do this, or Danny would die. 

“I am not going to let him rape you Stiles!” Noah snarled. 

“And I told you it wouldn’t be rape!” Stiles replied. 

“You say it wouldn’t be rape but I could smell how terrified you were Stiles! I could practically taste it!” 

“The only other option is that he dies! I’m not going to be responsible for anybody else dying, I’ve already got so much blood on my hands…”

“That’s not true and you know it. Kate made you do those things. They were not your fault!”

“That doesn’t matter. It was still my fault. I was still the one that held them in place when she killed them. I was the one who got covered in their blood when she ripped them apart. I was that close. And I still couldn’t save them. I can save him. Even if it means doing something I don’t want to. I’ll survive.” 

“There’s another way.” Jackson said, struggling to keep hold of Danny who was trying his best to break Jackson’s hold and get to Stiles. 

“What other way?” Derek asked eagerly and Jackson sighed heavily. 

“You said that Danny has to have an orgasm, that he has to be touching you when it happens. We can’t let him do it himself, because if he’s near you, he won’t be thinking about touching himself.” Jackson explained. 

“Yeah, so what’s the other way?” Noah queried. 

“I do it.” Jackson replied and they all looked at him in confusion, “I give him a hand job or whatever and Stiles stays close enough to touch him. That would work, wouldn’t it?” Stiles gaped at him for a few moments before swallowing loudly. 

“Um, it should do, I guess, I don’t know, we never tried that, so I’m not sure, but, maybe?” Stiles said. 

“I know you probably don’t want to tell us, but, what about with Kate and the others, you said before that she liked to keep you nearby when they were having sex, you know, to, um, do ‘things’, even if it wasn’t sex. Did she have your blood at the time? Surely if she was infected and had orgasms with someone else and was only touching you, that means this will work?” Lydia said and Stiles grimaced, flushing in embarrassment. 

“That was different. She was addicted to it, she tasted my blood at least once a day, so did the others, after the first couple of days, they stopped having the same reaction, they didn’t go feral like this, they just had a lot of sex. They didn’t need me to be there to have orgasms, Kate just liked me being there because she liked…” He trailed off, feeling sick to his stomach, he cleared his throat uncomfortably, “She liked to ‘play’ with me, like I was her toy, her pet.” He muttered, ignoring the growls from around the room, “I have no idea whether it’ll work or not, they weren’t in the same kind of state that Danny is in, but, if you want to try it, then I guess we give it a go.” He paused, looking at Jackson solemnly, “If you don’t want to, I could…” 

“No.” Jackson said seriously. “He’s my best friend, he’s more likely to forgive me. Besides, I think you’ve tried to do enough, you were willing to be raped in order to save his life, I’m pretty sure I can manage to give him a hand job if we tie him up.” 

“Are you sure?” Lydia asked nervously.

“Yeah.” Jackson nodded, “I mean, it’s not like I want to, but, he’s my best friend, I’d do anything for him, even this.” 

“Okay, so, let’s get him tied up and do this then, the sooner this is over the better.” Peter said, helping move Danny back to the chair and tie him up, he struggled against the ropes in a desperate attempt to get to Stiles, muttering constantly about how he wanted Stiles, how he was going to fuck him, how he was going to make him beg. 

“Sorry about this Danny.” Jackson muttered, “The rest of you mind giving us some privacy?” He added, the rest of the pack turned away, moving just outside of the office but leaving the door open should anything go wrong. Jackson looked to Stiles who nodded firmly, they had to at least give it a go, before he reached into Danny’s lap, trying not to think about why his trousers were already undone, trying not to think about the fact they’d been planning to let his best friend become a rapist just to stay alive. He closed his eyes, thinking instead about Lydia, about the soft curl in her hair, the way that when it glinted in the sun it almost dazzled him sometimes, about her smooth skin under his fingertips, he worried that she was so fragile and breakable next to his claws, but, Lydia always proved him wrong, she was fierce, deadly, cunning and ready to do battle at any given second, he always felt safe with her, like she would always protect him and herself because she was too smart to fall for any of the stupid things he’d fall for. 

“We need to make sure he’s touching me when he orgasms.” Stiles muttered a minute later, and Jackson broke from his trance, trying not to think about his hand wrapped around Danny’s hard cock, trying not to notice how Danny didn’t even seem to register it, his brain too focused on trying to get to Stiles. 

“Okay, how do you want to do this?” Jackson asked as he continued with his task, “Could you like reach out and put a hand on him?” 

“I think there’s more chance of things working if he’s the one touching me, that’s how it always seemed to work before anyway.” Stiles replied quietly, “If I come close enough, maybe we could undo the ropes on his wrists, keep the ones on his feet and around his chest, but, hopefully, it’ll be enough?” 

“Alright, let’s do it.” Jackson said, continuing to stroke Danny’s cock as Stiles moved closer and Danny tensed, as if to try and throw himself at Stiles despite the fact he was tied to the chair. 

“I need you, god, I want you so badly.” Danny said and Stiles tried not to grimace, “Fuck, god, I want you, I have to have you, please, need you.” He practically begged and Stiles did his best to stay calm, ignore his fear, his terror, his cowardice, and focus on the task at hand, he had to do this, he had to. If he wanted Danny to live. 

“Okay, I’m going to undo his hands, you just, um, keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully it’ll be enough.” Stiles said, reaching out, checking the other knots to make sure they were still firmly in place, before finally undoing the knots on Danny’s wrists. Instantly he wrapped his hands around Stiles’ wrists, hard enough that it would bruise as he tried to pull him closer. 

“I need you, fuck, I need you so badly, I want to fuck you, I want to fuck you until you scream, god, let me, let me fuck you.” Danny continued, gasping slightly as he neared his orgasm, Stiles tried his best not to flinch as Danny’s grip tightened on his wrists, practically pulling him in to his lap, Jackson glanced up at Siles who nodded at him to continue and moments later Danny let out a grunt as his orgasm raced through him. 

“Did it work?” Jackson muttered a moment later, Stiles shrugged in reply, rubbing his wrists slightly at the bruises forming there as Danny’s grip slipped away. 

“What the hell?” Danny muttered quietly and Stiles and Jackson both stared at him. 

“Danny?” Jackson asked, “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

“How do I feel?” Danny replied, glancing at the room around him, noticing the rest of the pack hovering in the now open doorway looking at him nervously, “How do I feel? Are you fucking kidding me? I’m tied to a fucking chair and my best friend just gave me a hand job to get me to be able to think straight again! How the fuck do you think I’m going to feel!?” 

“Hang on.” Stiles said, moving forward to untie the remaining knots, as soon as the ropes were undone Danny jumped to his feet, doing up his trousers and looking around the room in disgust. 

“I don’t even know where to start.” Danny ranted angrily, “Werewolves!? Werewolves are real!? You’re a freaking werewolf and you didn’t tell me?” 

“Danny I wanted to tell you…” Jackson tried.

“Wanted to tell me!?” Danny spluttered incredulously, “And you!” He shouted pointing at Stiles, “What kind are you? A werewolf? Or something else? Something worse? What kind of monster are you?” 

“Danny!” Lydia scolded, seeing how devastated Stiles looked by that word, seeing the way his gaze had gone to the floor and stayed there, his head hanging in defeat. 

“What? You honestly think he’s not? He infected me with his blood! He was going to let me rape him! Turn me into a rapist! You think that’s not sick?” 

“It wasn’t like he did it on purpose!” Scott argued. 

“And that was only to keep you alive! We could have left you to die.” Isaac agreed.

“But I didn’t have any choice in the matter, did I? You took my choices away the second your blood touched me!” He shouted angrily at Stiles who was still staring at the ground, “You’re sick, you get that, don’t you? You are so fucked in the head it’s unreal! You’re a monster.” He shouted before storming out of the room, shaking himself free of Jackson’s hand when he reached out to touch his arm, “Just stay the fuck away from me, all of you.” He said, practically running out of the house. 

They all stood in a stunned silence, none of them sure what to stay, Stiles hadn’t moved, still staring at the floor, his whole body was trembling, he was obviously shaken up by Danny’s words but none of them knew what to say.

“Stiles…” Derek began but Stiles just shook his head, not looking up from the floor as he fled the room, taking the stairs two at a time and slamming his bedroom door behind him. 

“Stiles!” Noah called after him, racing up the stairs after Stiles and pounding his fist into the door, “Stiles, he didn’t mean that! He’s just upset, confused, Danny doesn’t mean it, Stiles, please, open the door kid, let’s talk, please?” Noah tried but there was only silence from Stiles’ side of the door. The rest of the pack hovered behind him, all of them knew that Stiles was upset, none of them knew what could be said or done to fix this, but to even begin to attempt it, they needed Stiles to open the door and talk to them.


	11. Chapter 11

Stiles slid down his door, his head in the hands, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he fought back a scream, Danny was right, he was a monster, what he’d done, what his blood had done, it was monstrous, there was no way to deny it. He looked up, looked around the room, looked at the research that was scattered everywhere, it was useless, it was pointless, there was no point to any of it. He threw himself to his feet, grabbing the nearest pile of paperwork and throwing it across the room, watching the paper scatter in a hundred different directions, but, it did nothing to quell his frustration at his situation. He let out a scream of rage, stepping forward and grabbing the nearest book launching it as hard as he could at the opposite wall, still it didn’t stop the feeling of helplessness and rage that was overwhelming him. He repeated the process over and over, when he ran out of research he moved to his furniture, his clothes, whatever was within reach, throwing it as hard as he could. Stiles was past the point of caring, he didn’t care that he was destroying all his research piles, not caring that the books he threw left marks in the walls, he just wanted this pain to stop, he wanted to stop feeling the truth of Danny’s words stabbing like a knife digging in to his chest, he just wanted it all to stop.

Derek was going out of his mind, he knew the thoughts that would be running through Stiles’ head, all he wanted to do was go in there and hug him, hold him, tell him it was all going to be okay, but, he couldn’t. Stiles didn’t want him in there, didn’t want anyone in there, and they all knew not to intrude on him, wanting to give him his own space because they knew he needed it. Derek just wished there was something he could do to help.

Derek wasn’t sure how much time passed before he realised that Stiles wasn’t going to open his door and speak to them, he wished, not for the first time, that the bedrooms weren’t sound-proof and he could hear what was going on in there. The pack were all looking to him for an answer and Derek didn’t have one, all he knew was that they needed to give Stiles time to deal with it in whatever way he needed to, and, once he’d done that, Derek could try and talk some sense in to him, make him realise that whatever thoughts were going on in his head weren’t true. 

“I think you should all head to bed, I’ll wait here a bit, if he wants to talk, I’ll make sure to get you all.” Derek said, the pack looked at him reproachfully before finally they separated off and headed to their own bedrooms, none of them looking happy about it. 

Stiles collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, in defeat, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath, the room was trashed, his research was in disarray, scattered around the room in complete and utter destruction and still Stiles didn’t feel any better. He could still hear Danny’s voice in his ears, calling him a monster, telling him he was sick, fucked up, and he couldn’t disagree with him. He was such a mess. He stayed where he was on the floor in the middle of his bedroom, trying to calm himself down, he wrapped his hands around his knees, pressing his forehead to the back of his hands and rocking slightly as he tried to control his breathing. 

Derek paced outside Stiles’ room for hours, some time in the early hours he leaned against the wall and sighed wearily, sinking to the floor and resting his head on his arms, praying that Stiles would come out and talk to him, before he slipped in to a restless sleep. 

Stiles rubbed a hand over his eyes wearily, he was exhausted, but he hadn’t been able to sleep, every time he’d closed his eyes, he’d seen Danny staring back at him, calling him a monster. When it wasn’t Danny it had been Kate or Matt or the pack or any of the people that Kate had used him to kill over the year. It was bad enough seeing them when he was awake, he couldn’t bear to see them in his dreams too, knowing his subconscious would only make everything even worse. 

The sun had risen a few minutes previously and was now shining through his window, it became obvious just how thoroughly Stiles had destroyed the room the previous evening, he sighed heavily, getting to his feet and picking up the nearest book, placing it on his desk, resting his hand on it for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a breath. He couldn’t hide in here forever, no matter how badly he wanted to, he’d just have to go out there and face them. 

Whatever Stiles had expected to see it wasn’t this, it wasn’t Derek asleep on the floor just to the side of his bedroom door. He didn’t want to wake Derek, not when the man had obviously spent the entire night outside his room, he probably needed his sleep, Stiles went back to his room, grabbing a pillow and blanket and covering Derek up as quietly as he could so not to wake him, before heading down the stairs and in to the kitchen, pouring himself a mug of coffee and settling in to the nearest chair. 

He could feel his magic beginning to return slowly, a trickle that began to warm his chest, even if the rest of his body still felt like an icicle, he wished he’d had it yesterday, that he’d been able to stop the ball before it hit him, that Danny had never been exposed to his blood, but, he’d made a mess yet again and Danny had been the one to suffer. The only plus side was that he could heal his nose enough that it no longer felt like it was beating in time to his pulse, even if he hadn’t quite got rid of all the bruising.

Stiles was on his second mug of coffee before Sam wandered in to the kitchen, he looked across at Stiles before pursing his lips and turning towards the fridge, effectively turning his back on Stiles. 

“Hey.” Stiles said, clearing his throat, surprised at how rough he sounded, Sam turned and looked at him before turning back and examining the contents of the fridge without saying a word, “You okay buddy?” Sam didn’t say a word before pouring himself a bowl of cereal, sitting down at the table as far away from Stiles as possible while still staying in the same room. “Um,” Stiles said uncertainly, “Are you mad at me for something?” He paused when there was no response, “Have I upset you?” He asked, feeling nauseous, hating the thought of causing Sam any upset. 

Sam stared at him for several moments before gritting his teeth and opening his mouth, “You don’t care about me.” 

“What?” Stiles spluttered in shock, “Don’t be silly, of course I care about you, what are you talking about?” 

“Really? Because you’ve got a funny way of showing it.” Sam replied sulkily and Stiles stared at him in confusion. 

“Sam, I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, I really am, but I do care about you, you know that.” Stiles said, trying to sound calm when his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. 

“No, you don’t! You treat me like a kid, I’m not a child! I’ve seen plenty of bad things and you just shove me off towards my room like I’m a stupid kid that has to be kept out of the way!” Sam shouted and Stiles felt like he was going to throw up. 

“Sam,” He started quietly, trying to ignore the way his stomach lurched uncomfortably, “I’m sorry…”

“No! You said you’d come and see me, and you didn’t! You said you’d tell me a story and you didn’t! You just forgot all about me because it wasn’t what you wanted! I want my mom and dad and they’re not here and you don’t care about me! You don’t care if I’m here or not! I want to be with my real parents! My real family!” Sam screamed loudly, no doubt disturbing Derek asleep on the floor upstairs and Stiles winced. 

“I wish you could be with them Sam…” 

“Of course you do! Because then you wouldn’t have to put up with me! My mom and dad would still be alive if you’d never shown up! I hate you! It’s all your fault!” Sam shouted angrily, tears spilling down his cheeks. Stiles didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know how to respond to that, he knew Sam was upset, but what could he say when Sam was so obviously right. “I hate you! I wish I’d never met you!”

“Enough!” Derek shouted from the doorway and both Stiles and Sam looked at him. Derek had been woken by shouting downstairs, he’d sat up quickly, surprised to find himself covered by a blanket with a pillow tucked under his head, he’d pushed that thought aside, racing down the stairs just in time to hear Sam screaming at Stiles that it was all his fault, that he hated him. Derek had no idea what had happened to cause Sam to start shouting like that, but he could also see the way Stiles crumpled in on himself, that Sam’s words had broken something inside him, and it made Derek ache to see Stiles hurt like that. “Sam. Upstairs. Now. Go get ready for school.” 

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Sam shouted and Derek glared at him. 

“Yes, I can. Upstairs. Now. I’ll be up in a few minutes and we can talk.” Derek said firmly and Sam shot one last look at Stiles who was standing motionless by the kitchen counter, refusing to meet his gaze, instead staring at the floor, before Sam stormed past Derek and ran up the stairs to his room. “Are you alright?” Derek asked quietly and Stiles nodded silently, still looking at the floor. Derek took a step towards him, and Stiles moved away, taking a step closer to the far counter, Derek froze in his steps, not sure how to approach Stiles without scaring him. 

“You should go check on Sam. He needs someone around him right now. He’s upset.” Stiles muttered sounding tearful but still refusing to look away from the ground. 

“So are you.” Derek replied. 

“I’m fine. Sam needs you more. You need to go check on him.” Stiles said firmly, turning his back on Derek and staring at the counter in front of him. 

“Stiles…”

“No Derek. I’m fine. Sam needs you. Go.” Stiles said solemnly, Derek opened his mouth and Stiles sighed, “I said go.” Derek wasn’t sure what to do, he wanted to stay with Stiles, wanted to hug him, tell him it was all going to be okay. But there was another part of him that knew Sam was upset too and he wanted to talk to him, straighten things out, try and figure out what had cause Sam to scream at Stiles like that. 

He hesitated for another moment, before letting out a heavy sigh, turning on his heel and heading up the stairs. He still wasn’t sure it was right to leave Stiles alone, but he didn’t know what else to do, he knocked on Sam’s door and a moment later it cracked open and Sam appeared, tear tracks still marking his cheeks. 

“What?” He grumbled. 

“I think we need to talk, don’t we?” Derek said and Sam glared at him before sighing and opening the door to allow Derek to come in. Derek moved inside, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at Sam, “So, you want to tell me what that was about?” He asked and Sam paced across the room, looking at Derek angrily. 

“Stiles! He’s the problem! He treats me like a child! He told all of you whatever it was, and he hid it from me. He just told me to go to my room and then didn’t even come and talk to me and he doesn’t care about me, he doesn’t want me here and I just want my mom and dad and they aren’t here and I’m stuck with you guys and you don’t even want me here, as soon as Stiles doesn’t want me around he just forgets all about me and it’s not fair and I’m so mad at him…” Sam trailed off, looking ready to burst in to tears again. 

“You’re not mad at him. Not really.” Derek said, patting the bed next to him and Sam pouted before going to sit next to him. 

“Am I not?” He said grumpily.

“No. You know Stiles loves you. You know he does. You’re upset because he didn’t come and see you before you went to sleep.” Derek said, Sam gaped at him. 

“No, I’m not. I’m upset because…because he doesn’t…because he didn’t…He doesn’t care about me!” He spluttered.

“Sam, you know that’s not true. How many times has Stiles let you sleep in with him because you’ve had a nightmare? Or he’s made you breakfast? Or he’s helped you with your homework? Or told you a bedtime story? Or given you a hug when you’re upset?” Derek paused, “I could go on, but, you and I both know Stiles loves you, a lot. He’d do anything for you.” 

“Except come tell me night. He forgot about me.” Sam said sullenly. 

“Stiles loves you, and maybe, maybe, telling you a story slipped his mind last night…” Derek began and Sam opened his mouth to speak but Derek held up a finger telling him to wait, “Stiles got hurt yesterday, you saw that, you saw the blood, you saw the state Danny was in. Stiles had to do something he didn’t want to in order to make Danny better, and, more than that, when he did make Danny better, Danny said some things that really upset Stiles. Stiles didn’t tell you a story, didn’t come and say good night, but he also didn’t say anything to any of us. He went to his room and locked the door and didn’t speak to anyone all night. He didn’t shut you out, he shut all of us out. It’s not because he doesn’t care, I know he loves all of us. I think it’s because he doesn’t want any of us to see him when he’s hurting, when he’s upset.” Derek explained. 

“But, um, he…” Sam began before looking at Derek tearfully, “Why did Danny say mean things to him?”

“Why did you?” Derek replied, “You were scared, upset, confused, you thought Stiles was getting bored of you or didn’t care about you and you lashed out at him. Danny was scared and upset, and he lashed out because he didn’t understand what was happening.” 

“Oh.” Sam muttered. “I really upset him, didn’t I?” 

“Yeah, I think you did.” Derek replied. “Do you know what you should do now?”

“I need to go tell him I’m sorry.” Sam said quietly, looking to Derek guiltily. “Do you think he’ll be mad at me?” 

“I think Stiles doesn’t know how to be mad at you. He loves you. He’s hurting right now, and what you said, I don’t think that will have helped, but, maybe if you apologise, explain why you were upset, then, maybe that’ll make him feel a bit better?” Derek suggested. 

“Okay.” Sam agreed, getting up from the bed and heading out of the door, Derek following a step behind him. What neither of them expected when they arrived back downstairs was to find an empty kitchen, Derek looked around the room, as if Stiles would be hiding just out of sight somehow, before he spotted a piece of paper on the side. He strode forward, snatching it up and scanning through the note quickly before letting out a sigh of relief, “What does it say?” Sam asked. 

“Stiles says he has some homework to get done so he’s going to the school library, he’ll see the others there later on.” Derek replied before pausing when he heard doors beginning to open upstairs, “Everyone’s getting up now, why don’t you head upstairs and get ready for school? You can talk to Stiles when he gets back tonight?” 

“I wanted to say sorry now.” Sam mumbled sounding close to tears, “So he knows I’m not really mad at him and I don’t really hate him.” 

“We could call him if you want?” Derek suggested, already pulling out his phone as Sam nodded eagerly. He rang Stiles’ number, not that surprised when it went to voicemail, but, still, it made him feel a bit nervous that Stiles wasn’t answering. 

“Stiles,” Sam muttered into the phone, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it. I don’t hate you. I love you. And I’m really, really, sorry. Please don’t hate me.” Sam started to cry and Derek hugged him tightly. 

“Stiles won’t hate you, I promise he won’t hate you. Sam, you mean so much to him, to all of us, Stiles couldn’t hate you even if he tried.” Derek reassured him, ending the call to Stiles’ phone when he knew Sam wasn’t going to say anything further. 

Eventually the rest of the pack arrived down stairs, each of them having breakfast, finishing homework, chatting quietly amongst themselves, Derek informing them of what had happened between Sam and Stiles while Sam was still upstairs getting dressed. Scott grimaced, he knew Stiles would have taken Sam’s words to heart and he wanted to shout at the young boy for upsetting Stiles even further, but it was obvious Sam already felt bad enough about his words, Scott shouting at him wasn’t going to help anything. 

Derek left to drive Sam to school, it was obvious Sam was still upset, but, short of going to the high school and finding Stiles in the library and possibly upsetting him either further, nothing was going to resolve it. They didn’t speak much in the car; it was obvious to Derek that Sam wouldn’t feel any better until he’d spoken to Stiles and Derek wasn’t going to push it. 

As soon as Scott arrived at the school he headed for the library, after everything that had happened in the last twelve hours, he wanted to check in on Stiles, comfort him however he could. He knew the rest of the pack felt the same way, Scott figured they probably looked a bit strange, all of them moving in a large group towards the library, but, he also knew that people were kind of used to them all hanging out together so it wouldn’t be that surprising for them. 

He didn’t spot Stiles immediately, he wasn’t sat at one of the big tables in the middle of the room, it was only when the pack split up and Scott went a little deeper in to the library that he found Stiles sat on the floor at the back of one of the stacks. There was a book resting on his knees, but Stiles’ gaze was fixed on one particular spot, it was obvious he wasn’t actually reading the book in front of him, instead lost in thought. 

“Hey.” Scott said, sliding down to the floor next to Stiles and knocking their shoulders together gently, “You okay?” 

“Fine.” Stiles replied dully, his fingertips hovering on the edge of the page before he shut the book with a snap and got to his feet, “I didn’t realise it was that time already, we best get to class if we don’t want to be late.” He said sounding on the verge of shattering in to a thousand pieces. 

“Stiles…”

“I’m fine, honestly, I just don’t want to talk about it, alright? Can we just not talk about it? Please? I’m barely holding it together dude and if we talk about it, I’m going to fall apart, so, I don’t want to talk, please?” 

“Sure, I mean, if that’s what you want?” Scott replied uncertainly. 

“More than anything.” Stiles replied heavily, shoving the book in his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he was cold, his head hurt, he didn’t want to delve into feelings and how he was coping, he just wanted today to be as normal as it could be. They met up with the pack near the entrance to the library and it was obvious they’d overheard Scott and Stiles’ conversation as nobody mentioned anything to do with Sam, instead Isaac brought up what homework he still had to do for Johnson’s lesson and they all jumped on the topic. 

They split up and headed to their separate classes, Scott, Isaac and Stiles all heading to their first class of the day, they were nearly there, only one last corner to go, when Stiles heard his name being spoken and he froze. Scott and Isaac were a step ahead of him and obviously hadn’t heard the conversation ahead of them, but, the instant Stiles stilled they looked around for what had caused this reaction and then stopped dead in their tracks as they eavesdropped on the conversation just out of their line of sight. 

“…Stilinski and you got freaky last night? Is that true?” A voice said around the corner and the three of them looked at each other in surprise. 

“I don’t know what you heard…” Danny began to reply.

“Oh, come on, some guys from the baseball team have told the entire school that you and him left school together after you’d told him you wanted to fuck him.” The first voice replied. “All I’m wanting to know is if you fucked him and if it was good?” 

“Let me rephrase, I don’t care what you heard…” Danny said. 

“Dude, seriously! Everyone is dying to know what he’s like in bed! Or did you not even make it to the bed? Did you fuck in his car?” A second voice interrupted. 

“I didn’t have sex with him!” Danny snapped, slamming his locker shut, “If you really want to know, I thought it would be a bit of fun, a good fuck or whatever, right up until I saw him without a shirt on, guy is covered in scars, like he’s proper fucked up, a freak, any boner I had vanished on the spot, happy now?” Danny said as he rounded the corner and saw the three of them standing in front of him. 

Stiles felt all the colour drain from his face the instant he heard Danny’s words, he felt like he was going to throw up, he knew Scott and Isaac could no doubt hear the racing of his heart, Danny’s mouth dropped open in surprise, a blush forming on his cheeks, he obviously hadn’t expected them to hear that. The two boys behind him grinned widely when they saw Stiles standing there, both of them glancing at each other before one of them took a step towards them. 

“So, is it true? Are you scarred Stilinski? A freak?” One of them chortled and Stiles opened and closed his mouth a few times before tightening his grip on the strap of his bag and stepped towards Scott and Isaac who were still standing there staring at Danny and the other two in shock. 

“We’re going to be late for class.” Stiles said quietly, reaching out to push Scott and Isaac forwards, ignoring the other three boys. 

“See you later Scar!” One of them called and the second laughed brightly before giving his friend a high five. Danny stared at both of them before turning to Stiles who was resolutely not looking at any of them as he steered Scott and Isaac towards the classroom, both of them looking close to wolfing out. 

Stiles sunk in to his seat at the back of the class, he felt numb, like he was in a bubble, everything felt too far away but too loud at the same time. He couldn’t tell anyone a single word of what was said in that class, or the next, or the next. He was well aware that people were talking about him, he heard the sniggers, the crude remarks, the laughter and jokes at his expense. He felt each one like a prick to his skin, but it all felt so removed, distant, like he wasn’t even there, he just wanted to crawl in to a hole, block everyone and everything out, pretend none of this had ever happened. He closed his eyes, trying to take a calming breath, and instead he could hear Danny screaming at him, calling him a freak, a monster, he could hear Sam shouting at him, telling him he hated him, and Stiles felt like he was crumbling. 

He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands in to fists, if there was one thing he was good at, it was holding it together in public, when he got home, he didn’t know what he was going to do, but he damn well knew he could hold it together in front of everyone else, he’d had enough practice with Kate, he would not let them see him break. He walked in to the cafeteria with Jackson and Lydia, he could hear Jackson muttering under his breath to Lydia about how he was going to have serious words with Danny, but Stiles ignored him, he didn’t want to think about it, the only way he was going to get through today was by not thinking about it. 

He’d barely got to the table where the rest of the pack were sitting when someone bumped in to him, spilling their drink all down Stiles’ shirt. 

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, here, take your shirt off and I’ll go dry it for you.” The girl said beaming and Stiles looked at her in disgust, holding his shirt away from his skin slightly in an attempt to stop it soaking through to the next layer. 

“I’ll manage, thanks.” He growled out, clenching his jaw as he fought the urge to send a wave of power through the room and blast everyone off their feet, not that he really had enough magic to do that right now. 

“Oh, don’t be silly, you’re soaked. Take your shirt off and I’ll go dry it.” A second girl pressed and Stiles glared at her, before looking around the rest of the cafeteria, he was well aware that every eye was on him, all of them waiting to see his reaction. 

“Yeah, come on Scar! Whip your clothes off!” Someone called out and the entire pack moved as one, all of them turning towards the hackler and glaring at him. 

“Leave him the fuck alone before I rip you apart.” Erica growled and the guy actually gulped before sinking back in to his seat. 

“It’s fine.” Stiles said quietly, hating that everyone was getting so upset because of him. He sunk to his seat, ignoring all of them, ignoring the way his wet t-shirt clung to him and sent a shiver through him, instead he picked at the food in front of him, feeling like a gaping hole had appeared where his stomach used to be and the only way he was going to keep it together was to cling tightly to whatever remained of his humanity. 

The pack were all looking at him in concern and Stiles knew he was worrying them, but he didn’t know how to deal with this, he was used to being ignored, invisible, and instead everyone was talking about him, muttering about what a freak he was, and all Stiles could think was that he had to hold it together for the sake of the pack. Eventually Erica sat in the seat opposite him and grabbed at a sandwich and the rest of the pack followed suit while Stiles shifted the food on his plate around, knowing if he ate anything, there was a good chance he was going to throw it up again. Stiles tried to ignore all the stares, but it was hard work. He could hear everyone talking about him, he imagined it was even worse for the wolves, that they’d be able to hear every word clearly. 

“Well, I think I have homework to catch up on.” Stiles said as soon as he could, not wanting to be under observation any longer. 

“Hang on, I’ll come with you.” Scott said. 

“I’ll be fine Scotty. I think I can manage to make it to the library by myself.” Stiles said, grabbing his bag and pulling his jacket tighter around his ruined shirt in an attempt to keep the chill away. He stood up from the table, not really aware of why the room seemed to have quietened slightly, before he turned around and saw Danny standing in the cafeteria doorway, looking almost guilty. Stiles had no idea why that was, the only guilty party here was him, he should have been more careful, he should have never allowed Danny to get close enough to get infected with his blood. 

“See you in the showers Scar! Or maybe not!” A voice shouted from behind him and Stiles grimaced as the cafeteria erupted in to laughter, determined not to let them know how much it bothered him. Stiles left the room as quickly as he could without it being obvious that he was fleeing, making sure to keep as much distance between himself and Danny when they passed in the doorway, not even looking up at him as he headed away from the cafeteria and towards the library. 

If he was completely honest with himself, what he really wanted to do was run, run and never look back. But, he couldn’t. Not only because Derek had ordered him not to, unless he told Derek about it first, which he knew wouldn’t work, but, also, because he hated the thought of being without the pack, without his dad and Derek and Sam and all the others. He hated the thought of letting them down even more, and he knew his dad would be disappointed if Stiles left school because he couldn’t handle it. Instead he went to the library, found a quiet corner far away from everyone and pulled out his geometry homework, hoping there would be at least some benefit to isolating himself, trying to ignore the steady pounding of a drumbeat in his head and the cold that was sweeping through him where his wet t-shirt stuck to his skin. 

Jackson waited until Stiles had left the cafeteria before glaring at Danny, he was so angry, he could barely think straight. He stood up from the table and headed straight for Danny, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the cafeteria even as Danny protested at the manhandling, the rest of the pack looked at each other uncertainly before racing after them. None of them had any idea what Jackson was thinking or planning on doing, but they all knew Lydia would be the one to make him see sense. They caught up with the two of them just as Jackson shoved Danny into an empty classroom and they all hurried in after them.

“Jackson what the hell are you doing!?” Allison said when she saw his eyes flashing blue in Danny’s direction. 

“Jacks, you need to calm down, Danny’s your friend, remember?” Lydia said, trying to sound reasonable. 

“I know he’s my friend. My best friend.” Jackson growled through elongating teeth while Danny looked at him nervously, “And I’ve never been so fucking disappointed in you as I am right now.” He added and Danny gaped at him. 

“Excuse me? You’re disappointed in me!? Are you kidding me? You’re a werewolf and you didn’t think that’s something I deserved to know!?” Danny argued. 

“Yeah, I did think you needed to know, but how could I tell you without spilling everyone else’s secret?” Jackson said, “Besides, that’s not why I’m disappointed, you know why, don’t you?” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

“Don’t bullshit me Danny. You might have been under the influence of Stiles’ blood, but you were still in there, you could still hear what was being said, even if you couldn’t control your body.” 

“So what!? It doesn’t matter if I could hear or not, you still used me against my will!” Danny argued. 

“It matters because Stiles told us about his scars. He told us how he was self-conscious about them. He even told us about how he got some of them. And what he went through. And you…I don’t care that you’re freaking out about werewolves and magic and all that, I don’t care that you’re confused and angry, I get it, I was angry too, terrified, confused, unable to make sense of any of it. But you! You heard Stiles say all those things, heard some of the things that Kate did to him and you still chose to tell those jackasses that he has scars!? Why would you do that?” Jackson asked. 

“You’re honestly judging me right now?” Danny said sarcastically. 

“Yeah I am. Because you were always the better one of us. You cared about people. You made sure that nobody ever got hurt because of something you did or said. You made me a better person. And what you’ve done. What you did to Stiles. That’s completely out of line. I’m ashamed of you.”

“You are disappointed in me because I upset Stiles? Seriously!?” Danny asked incredulously, “This is the same Stiles that you tried to shove down the toilet because he said hi to Lydia once. This is the same Stiles that you tackled so hard you gave him a concussion because he didn’t back down when you wanted the ball and the rest of the team actually cheered him on? You have treated him a hell of a lot worse than I have!”

“Yeah well I’ve changed.” Jackson replied. “I’ve grown up, I’ve realised that Stiles is a great guy and I was a complete shit to him just because I was jealous and insecure. What’s your excuse?”

“Um, how about the fact his blood infected me, and I nearly raped him!?” Danny said mockingly. 

“It was an accident, a freak accident. We all know that.” Lydia interrupted. “It could have happened to any one of us.” 

“And you still want to be friends with him? Knowing the risk that being friends with him entails? One drop of blood, even accidently, and you lose your mind?” Danny said. 

“Of course we want to be friends. He’s our family Danny.” Isaac said simply. “And Jackson is right, I get you’re freaking out over everything, but that’s no excuse to treat someone badly, Stiles didn’t mean for you to taste his blood and he was willing to risk a hell of a lot just so you could live. He didn’t have to do that. You should be a bit more understanding.” 

“Understanding!? Understanding!?” Danny spluttered, “I don’t understand any of this! Yesterday afternoon I was a normal guy who thought I knew a decent amount about how the world works. Then Stiles gets hit by a freaking baseball and next thing I know I’m trying to rape him and there are werewolves and hunters and bindings or orders or whatever and experiments and maybe I’ll die or maybe I’ll rape Stiles and magic and excuse me for maybe not knowing how to handle that when people start harassing me about if I had sex with him or not! I mean, would you have preferred I told them that they only heard me say those things because I was under some kind of magical blood spell?” He said. 

“You could have just told them that it didn’t happen. Left it at that. You had no right to tell people about his scars. He trusted us with that secret and you blabbed it to someone the first chance you got. He was willing to do so much to save your life…” Erica snapped.

“Which only needed saving because of him in the first place.” Danny interrupted. 

“Yeah, well, Stiles feels bad about that, we all know how bad he feels, you saw how distraught he was over what had happened, and it wasn’t like he had done it on purpose! It was an accident! You know that Danny!” Jackson argued and Danny blushed, pausing for a few moments, obviously thinking things over, before sighing heavily. 

Danny couldn’t help but think they were right, since Stiles had returned to Beacon Hills, Danny had found that they got on well together, he’d actually found himself drawn to Stiles, he wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d developed more than a little crush on him. He’d been planning to ask him out on a date and then that stupid baseball happened, and Danny hadn’t been able to control his body. He thought back to what he’d been witness to the night before, the way Stiles had stopped Derek from hurting Danny, explaining what had happened, and, yeah, Danny was more than a little scared of Derek. He thought back how Stiles had run through the different options, how the only real option was for the two of them to have sex, because Stiles wasn’t willing to drag another innocent in to this. Stiles had done his best to reassure Danny, to tell him everything was okay, even when Danny knew that Stiles was terrified. They were right. It had been a freak accident, admittedly, one that meant Danny was now in the know about all things supernatural, but, still, an accident. And Stiles had done everything he could to help him and save his life, and in return, Danny had betrayed Stiles’ trust, his secret. Danny had really messed up.

“Alright, you’re right, I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry, I never meant for Stiles to get hurt. I just wanted them to stop harassing me about it and I’m still trying to process everything and I just, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s not us you need to apologise to.” Scott snarled angrily. “Stiles has been through so much and you’ve made things even harder for him.”

“I’ll fix it.” Danny replied. “I’ll come up with some way to fix this, apologise and I don’t know, tell them I lied or something.” He offered. 

“You’re going to tell the entire school you lied about his scars? And what about when one of them doesn’t believe you? Stiles can’t exactly take his shirt off to deny it?” Allison queried. 

“I don’t know! Okay! I’ll think of something though! Alright, I fucked up, I get it. I’ll apologise and I’ll try to come up with a way to fix it, to make this right.” Danny said. “Okay?” 

“Fine.” Scott replied, “But if you don’t, if anybody mentions it and upsets him, I will hold you personally responsible. Got it?” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Danny nodded, already thinking of how he could try to fix this, “Do you know where Stiles was going? I want to go speak to him?” The pack all looked to each other in uncertainty, not sure if they could trust Danny not to upset Stiles any further. 

“He was heading to the library, but, it’s nearly time for our next class, I think it’s probably better if you leave him alone for now. Talk to him after school or something instead.” Boyd suggested solemnly and Danny nodded. 

“Sure, okay.” He agreed, it would give him time to come up with some kind of plan, he hoped, “So, werewolves? And Stiles is what? A wizard?” He asked, hoping he could begin to make sense of some of this. 

“There’s lots of different magic users, like druids and wiccans and things like that, but Stiles is classed as a ‘caster’.” Allison explained. 

“And what does that mean? Like, does he have different magic to the others or whatever?” Danny said just as the bell went signalling their afternoon classes were starting. 

“How about we meet after school? You could come across to the house and we can discuss everything that’s happened and that you want to know?” Lydia suggested and Danny pursed his lips for a moment before nodding. 

“Sure, just, one quick question, if Stiles doesn’t accept my apology, would he like, could he, I don’t know, like, make me explode in to a million pieces? Or would you guys, like, be able to stop him? Because the whole glowing eyes and claws and teeth thing is kind of terrifying, so I’m guessing you guys are like the bigger bad or whatever? You could talk some sense in to him if he wanted to kill me?” Danny asked almost nervously and everyone burst in to laughter before Scott clapped a hand on Danny’s shoulder and steered him towards the door. 

“Trust me. If Stiles wanted you dead, there is not a single thing any of us could do about it, no matter how badly we wanted to. You want to know who the biggest badass is so you can hide behind them, you better do your best to get back on Stiles’ good side.” Scott smirked as the colour drained from Danny’s face before he nodded quickly and headed off to his afternoon class. 

“Did you really have to terrify him like that?” Jackson complained. 

“He upset Stiles. Don’t think he gets off easy just because he’s realised he’s done wrong.” Erica snapped. “Let him spend the afternoon thinking that Stiles will disintegrate him if he feels like it, it’ll probably do him some good, besides it wasn’t a lie, Stiles could kill him if he felt like it, without any issue, the fact that he wouldn’t do it is a different matter entirely.” She grinned as they all split up to head their own classes. 

Stiles walked to his afternoon class, clutching his bag tight to his side, trying to ignore the way his fingers felt like ice and the cold radiated through to his core, he’d used magic to dry his shirt out but there was still a stain there and he hadn’t been able to warm up since. The pounding in his head had increased to a steady drumbeat that seemed to be echoing in time to his pulse and he felt so sick he couldn’t even attempt to concentrate. He sat in his seat, not sure he knew, or was even bothered about, which class he was in right now. All he knew for definite was that he was cold and he didn’t want to be here. 

“Stiles?” Someone queried and Stiles glanced up from his desk, surprised to see the classroom had already emptied, he didn’t remember hearing the bell go off, never mind whatever he’d supposed to have been learning for the past period. “Are you alright?” Stiles looked at the boy in front of him, he looked worried, biting his bottom lip nervously, “Class ended a few minutes ago, do you want me to call someone or something?” He added. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles replied, gathering up his books and ignoring the way his whole body felt like it had frozen solid with the cold. He pulled his jacket a little tighter, slung his bag on his shoulder and headed for the door. 

“Hey, um, I know there’s people saying a lot of mean things…” The boy began, Stiles shot a look in his direction, “I don’t know if they are true or not, but I figure it doesn’t matter either way.” He concluded, “Being mean to people is wrong, and being mean to them about things that are outside of their control is even worse. Like you wouldn’t make fun of someone because they are too thin or too fat or too short or too tall. Making fun of you because you may or may not have a few scars is a really shitty thing to do, so I just wanted to say sorry, from all of them, even if they aren’t going to say it.”

“Um, thanks I guess?” Stiles replied uncertainly, trying to stop the shivers wracking his body. 

“No worries, I’m Eddie by the way, I’m on the baseball team, I was there last night, well, not right there, I stayed on the field with the rest of the team, that ball hit you pretty damn hard.” Eddie said and Stiles nodded dumbly, unsure of how to reply to that, or why they were still talking, “Anyway, I best head to my next class, see you later.” He gave Stiles a small wave before exiting the classroom and Stiles stared after him for a moment before leaving as well, trying to concentrate enough to figure out where he was supposed to be. 

He was late to his next class, the last of the day, he didn’t really care when the teacher commented on it, just heading to his seat near the back of his class, it was only when he sat down that he realised he was next to Danny and, for some reason, Theo was sat on his other side. He could have kicked himself, he knew he sat next to Danny in this class, he freaking knew it, and he was so spaced out that he completely forgot, admittedly, Theo usually sat on the other side of Jess but it looked like the two of them had switched places today and Stiles couldn’t even be bothered to be curious about that, instead trying not to think about how much Danny hated him, how much of a freak he was, a monster. 

“Hey Scar, I hear you’re having a rough day.” Theo muttered and Stiles ignored him, instead staring blankly at the book in front of him. Theo continued to make snide remarks under his breath and Danny kept shooting glares at Theo or Stiles, Stiles wasn’t one hundred percent sure which one of them Danny was annoyed at, but he could take a wild guess.

He was so distracted, trying to force himself to ignore Danny’s glares, force himself to ignore Theo’s comments, force himself to stay calm and not have a panic attack, force himself to ignore the way his head felt like it was about to explode or that his body felt like an icicle, that he couldn’t tell anybody a single word of what had been said in the lesson, all he wanted to do was curl in to a ball, wrap his arms around himself, try and get warm, block out the rest of the world. 

“Just leave him the fuck alone!” Danny said loudly and Stiles startled, surprised to see Danny out of his chair and glaring at Theo with anger. The whole class had turned to look at them and even the teacher was staring at them in shock. 

“What’s wrong with you Mahealani? I thought you said Scar here was just as much of a freak as I figured he was?” Theo said mockingly and Stiles refused to look at either of them, instead turning his gaze to his paper in front of him and wishing the ground would swallow him up.

“He’s not a freak! And he’s sure as hell not an asshole like you!” Danny shouted back. 

“Boys, enough. This is my classroom and I won’t have…”

“You’re defending his honour!? Weren’t you the one telling everyone that would listen that you couldn’t even get a boner when you saw him naked?” Theo taunted and Danny flushed angrily, clenching his hands into fists. 

Stiles really didn’t want to be here, he grabbed his book as quickly as he could, shoving it in to his bag and standing up, planning on exiting the room, until he realised that Theo was also on his feet now, and by standing up, Stiles had put himself between the two of them. 

“Yeah well I was fucking lying! Of course I had a fucking boner, have you seen him topless? No, of course not because you’re a dick who is never going to have that opportunity! So he’s got a few scars, who gives a shit? It really doesn’t make him unattractive, in fact, I wanted to fuck him so badly I nearly came in my pants. The only reason I lied in the first place was because Stiles told me he wasn’t interested in me. I was embarrassed and I lied, I exaggerated because I didn’t want everyone else making fun of me! But that doesn’t give you the right to start bullying him!” Danny shouted. Stiles clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, he wanted to be anywhere but here right now. 

“Bullshit!” Theo said in surprise. 

“I said enough! All three of you sit down. Now!” The teacher shouted.

“You’re lying just to cover for him! Because you feel bad.” Theo remarked. 

“Really? Because I guarantee if Stiles stripped right now, anyone who is even remotely in guys, and I’d bet several people that aren’t, would be begging to have sex with him because he is so fucking attractive it’s unfair. The only problem with that is that Stiles really doesn’t see it and there’s no way he’d be convinced to strip off so you’ll just have to take my word for it, and, considering I’m one of the only people in this place that has been that lucky, and believe me, I was so freaking lucky, I’m not really arsed whether you believe me or not. Now, kindly stop calling him Scar or I swear to god I will kick the shit out of you. Got it?” Danny ranted. 

“Well I say we test that theory and just get Stiles to take his shirt off right now.” Theo argued back, reaching out and grabbing the hem of Stiles’ t-shirt. 

“Get the fuck off me.” Stiles said, pulling out of his reach and tightening his grip on his bag, pushing past Danny and heading for the door. 

“Mr Stilinski, class is not finished, return to your seat. You two, sit down and shut up or you’ll be in detention for the next month.” The teacher shouted but Stiles didn’t listen, grabbing the door handle, “Stilinski! You walk out that door and I will call your father!” She shouted. Stiles hesitated, he didn’t want his dad to worry, but he couldn’t be here a second longer, he was tired, he was freezing, and he couldn’t deal with anything else, not right now. “I mean it.” She continued and Stiles slumped in defeat, he couldn’t let his dad down. He let go of the doorknob, turning back in to the room, moving to an empty seat at the very back of the room, away from Danny and Theo who were both staring at him, along with the rest of the class, and dropping down in to it. He didn’t bother taking his book back out, it wasn’t like he was going to do any work, he was barely keeping it together as it was. He was so cold he could barely think straight, and he really wanted a few extra layers and possible even a pile of werewolves that ran extra hot to pile on top of him and keep him warm.

Danny and Theo sunk back in to their seats, both of them still glaring at the other, the rest of the class were muttering under their breaths and several of them were tapping away on their phones, Stiles wasn’t an idiot and he had no doubt that this little argument would be all over the school in a matter of minutes. He sat in his seat, doing his best to avoid the gazes shot in his direction, looking down at the desk in front of him and nothing else, until, finally, the bell rang signalling the end of day. 

Stiles waited for everyone else to exit the room, clutching his coat tighter to him to try and hide the shivers that were wracking through his body. He saw Danny stand up and approach his desk, Stiles tried to avoid hm, spending a few minutes looking around as if he’d forgotten something before moving towards the door without looking in Danny’s direction. 

“Stiles?” Danny called out and Stiles grimaced, turning to look at him slowly, “Can we talk?” He asked as even the teacher left the room, leaving just the two of them in there, Stiles really wanted to leave, he didn’t want to do this here, he didn’t want to do it anywhere, ever. “Stiles, look, I’m really sorry about what I said…”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Stiles replied tonelessly, he was so cold, he could barely think straight and the last thing he needed was to try and navigate this whole mess with Danny. 

“Yes, I do. Alright, I was…finding out everything, about all this craziness, yeah, I panicked and I freaked out and I think I had every right to do that by the way, I mean, I’d take a wild guess that anyone who found out about all of that, well, they’d all freak out too.” He rambled, “But, the point I’m trying to make, what I wanted to say, is that, even though there was all that, I should have never said those things about your scars, and I’m sorry.” He said, Stiles nodded numbly, he didn’t know how to reply to that, he couldn’t think straight, his head hurt, his whole body ached with cold. “Can you, um, say something?” Danny muttered and Stiles tried to say something but he felt nauseous, like if he opened his mouth he’d be sick, the room was spinning around him, he head felt like it was about to explode, even when he closed his eyes the room kept spinning, “Stiles? Stiles are you okay?” Danny asked, Stiles tried to shake his head, instead he had to reach out to grab the desk in front of him to stop himself from falling over. Danny saw Stiles sway on the spot, saw the fact that his face had gone pale, almost translucent, and he reacted instinctively, reaching out to grab Stiles to stop him from face planting the desk, he pulled away instantly, as if burned, Stiles’ skin was freezing, like ice. “What the fuck.” He mumbled under his breath as Stiles gasped for air, “Alright, Stiles, just, hang on, alright, I’ll go grab someone from the pack, they’ll be able to help, right?” He asked in fear, not sure what to do for best, he took a step towards the doorway when Stiles swayed again, and Danny knew he couldn’t leave him like that. Instead he grabbed Stiles around the waist, trying not to flinch from the coldness that seemed to radiate from him, before steering them towards the door. 

“Where’s Stiles?” Derek asked when he saw the rest of the pack in the car park, noticing that Stiles wasn’t with them, Sam was practically jumping in place next to him, desperate to see Stiles and apologize.

“He had biology last period; Wilson always keeps everyone a bit late. He should be here any minute.” Lydia informed him. 

“Right, sure, okay.” Derek nodded, his gaze going to the door, waiting for Stiles, certain he would be there any second. It took him a moment to register when Stiles did finally leave the school, but that was only because he didn’t expect to see him snuggled in to Danny’s side. Derek felt his stomach drop at the sight, he couldn’t make sense of it, couldn’t understand it, had Danny and Stiles decided to start dating or something? He thought he was going to throw up, yet he couldn’t look away, like he was stuck staring at this view for the rest of his life, the moment burned in to his retina’s. Except, as he stared, he saw Stiles’ legs buckle slightly, saw as Danny’s grip tightened to try and keep him upright, saw Danny’s gaze searching for something, or someone, and then, light up with relief when he saw Derek staring at them and suddenly everything clicked in to place, Stiles wasn’t snuggling in to Danny’s side, Danny was keeping Stiles upright. 

Derek moved instantly, running forwards, leaving the rest of the pack stood by the cars wondering what was going on, he ignored the incredulous looks of the remaining students, they were insignificant, he only had eyes for Stiles. He reached Danny and Stiles within moments, checking Stiles over with his own eyes, he brushed a hand across his cheek and almost flinched from the coldness of it, Stiles’ gaze seemed to slip right by him, as if he couldn’t even focus on Derek right in front of him. 

“Stiles? What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Derek asked in worry, looking to Danny for an explanation when Stiles didn’t reply. 

“I don’t know, we were talking and then he looked like he was about to pass out and when I grabbed him, he was freezing. I wasn’t leaving him there alone to find you guys.” Danny said. 

“Okay, come here, it’s okay, I’ve got you now Stiles, you’re okay.” Derek reassured him, wrapping an arm around Stiles and pulling him in to his side, noticing the way that Stiles’ body was wracked with shivers, that his teeth were chattering and no colour was left in his cheeks. The rest of the pack were rushing towards them as Stiles clung tighter to him, as if he was trying to absorb every bit of heat from Derek that he could. 

“What’s wrong with him? What did you do to him?” Scott said accusatorily and Danny gaped at him. 

“I didn’t do anything to him!” Danny snapped, “He just…I don’t know.” He said quietly, looking at Stiles with worry. 

“Stiles, you’re going to be fine, I just need you to stay awake, okay? Stay awake, we’re going to get you home, get you warm, it’s going to fine.”

“…here.” Stiles muttered, barely audible, his eyes rolling as he fought for consciousness, Derek had no idea what he was saying and right now it didn’t seem important, all that mattered was getting Stiles warm. He steered them back towards his car, ignoring everyone else, throwing Stiles’ keys to Boyd, climbing in to the back seat of his own car, allowing Lydia to drive, not really caring about anything other than making sure Stiles warmed up, wrapping his arms around him and holding him as tightly as he could. Sam watched the scene in front of him unfold with terror in his eyes, he didn’t know what was happening, all he knew was that something was wrong with Stiles, Derek had bundled him in to the back of his car and Sam had jumped in with Scott and what if Stiles was really poorly and he thought Sam hated him, he couldn’t stop the tears falling down his cheeks as they drove quickly after Derek’s car. 

By the time they arrived back at the house Stiles’ shivers had only worsened and Derek couldn’t help the worry he felt, Stiles could barely keep himself upright as they staggered towards the house, Isaac and Jackson raced ahead of him, rushing upstairs and grabbing as many blankets as they could while Allison ran in to the living room and lit the fire. It was obvious they were all panicked by Stiles’ state but none of them knew what to do other than to try and get him warm, within minutes they’d lay Stiles down near the fire and all piled in around him, hoping the body heat would help him. Scott had called Melissa and Noah, and both were on their way, Chris and Peter appeared not long after they’d arrived home, Peter muttering quietly to Derek that something had been out there, he just didn’t recognise the scent, but, it was definitely a were of some kind. Chris eyed Danny suspiciously, Danny hadn’t joined the pile on the floor, instead staying sat on the nearby sofa, not wanting to intrude but needing to get some answers in order to even begin to understand all of this. 

By the time Noah and Melissa arrived Stiles’ shivers had ceased, and he’d fallen asleep in Derek’s arms, it wasn’t ideal, Melissa had wanted to examine him when he was awake, but the fact he’d warmed up enough to sleep was a good thing in her books. She checked his temperature and his skin was no longer ice cold, there was some colour in his cheeks and his pulse and breathing were even. 

“He’d probably just exhausted himself, that spell the other night took a lot out of him, combined with what happened with Danny yesterday, and the fact he probably didn’t sleep last night, we know he gets cold because of whatever Kate did, we know everybody is more cold when they are tired, he probably just needs to sleep it off.” Melissa said. 

Derek was reluctant to let go of Stiles, but, as the rest of the pack started to sit up, make themselves comfortable, still within reaching distance of Stiles but obviously knowing there were other things to discuss, Derek loosened his grip, sitting up slightly, shifting so that Stiles’ head was resting on his leg and Derek could trail his fingers softly through his hair. 

“I was thinking,” Melissa continued, “Stiles said, about the tracker, and that something else was there too, not a block of ice, but something. So, I was thinking, maybe, I could take him for an MRI, maybe we could take the tracker out?”

“We’ve suggested that before and he said no.” Peter interrupted, not unkindly, just pointing it out. 

“Yeah, but that was when this was all new, he’s been back nearly six weeks now, he’s got to realise it’s safe now, that we can take the tracker out and it’s not going to be the end of the world.” Lydia commented. 

“There’s still things we don’t know though, I mean, he can’t tell us certain things, maybe there’s other things that he can’t say too, like, what if one of his orders was run off if someone tries to take the tracker out of something. Maybe we keep it in for now, until we find a way to free him, until we know for definite that there’s nothing else that he can’t say?” Scott suggested. 

“Um, when you say ‘free him’, that means what exactly?” Danny asked and they all startled slightly, if Derek was honest, he’d kind of forgotten Danny was there. 

“That’s a long story.” Erica sighed heavily. 

“The abbreviated version maybe? I mean, I know about werewolves now, and I get that Stiles has magic so, what key points do I need to be filled in on here?” Danny queried. 

“Are we telling him everything?” Isaac said looking to Derek, “I mean, if we tell him, is he like an honorary member of the pack or just somebody who knows? We said we wouldn’t even tell Deaton everything because of the risk, do we trust him?” 

“I’ll vouch for him.” Jackson said solemnly and Danny looked at him in surprise, “Derek, I’ll vouch for him, I don’t want to keep any more secrets from him, please? I trust him. I trust him with my life…”

“He told the entire school about Stiles’ scars this morning!” Scott interrupted. 

“What scars?” Sam queried. 

“Nothing, nothing, just, he got a few scars from his time with Kate, but it’s not a big deal.” Derek said. 

“So why does it matter if Danny told people?” Sam asked in confusion. 

“It matters because Stiles didn’t want people to know and Danny told people!” Scott continued.

“Yeah, but he knows he did wrong and he won’t ever break any of our trust again, will you?” Jackson prompted. 

“No, no, of course not.” Danny agreed, “And, I really am sorry about what I said earlier, but I know about you guys now, I want to be part of this, I want to be in the know, I want to be able to help. I’m pretty good with a computer, and I might not have claws or teeth or magic or whatever, but Jackson is my family, I want to be part of his life, all of it.” 

“Fine.” Derek sighed when he knew he couldn’t say no, not without upsetting Jackson. 

“Great, so, do any of you want to tell me what you mean when you say you need to free him?” Danny asked. 

“Okay, so, long story short,” Allison began, “The night of the lacrosse game, when Jackson ‘died’,” Danny nodded, “My grandfather, who was a werewolf hunter, kidnapped Stiles and tortured him for information on the pack, which he refused to give up. His plan was then to shoot Stiles in the middle of his front lawn, execute him as a war criminal, except, Noah was home, he rushed out, and Gerard told Stiles he’d either talk or his dad would be shot. Stiles still refused and when Gerard shot Noah, Stiles dived in front of the bullet. It nearly killed both of them, but it sparked something in Stiles, something that had always been there but hadn’t shown itself until then. Stiles saved Noah’s life, well, he stopped him from dying anyway, but Gerard pulled him away too quickly to heal him all the way.”

“His magic?” Danny queried and Allison nodded. 

“Gerard took Stiles to study him.” Isaac continued, “We didn’t know about it, we thought he was staying with his aunt because he didn’t want to deal with his dad in the hospital. There’s a ritual, something that Kate, Allison’s Aunt and also a crazy werewolf hunter, or she was a hunter before Peter killed her and then she came back as like a were jaguar, so, something she did, and, well, Stiles says he was pretty out of it during it, his magic appearing, and saving his dad, it exhausted him, like, it drained his own energy, and, well, he couldn’t fight back, he was practically in a coma from the sounds of things…”

“Short version Isaac.” Erica said and Isaac blushed.

“Basically, she completed a ritual that bound Stiles’ magic to a ring, and the owner of the ring has control over Stiles.” Lydia explained and Danny opened his mouth to ask a question, but Lydia shushed him, “By that I mean, she gave him orders and he had to follow them. If he didn’t, he suffered unimaginable pain, his organs started producing sludge that wouldn’t kill him, but it felt like it would. He was her prisoner for over a year, forced to do things that would break normal people, and that’s just the things we know about. There’s worse that happened that he won’t tell us about, and, other things that he can’t tell us about. As in, there’s orders in place that means he can’t tell us without causing himself pain.” 

“And Kate can still order him?” Danny asked sounding horrified. 

“No. She’s dead.” Boyd supplied. 

“We found a way to change Stiles’ master, the one in charge of issuing his orders. Once the challenge was issued then either the current master or the challenger had to die, or, if they didn’t fight, it would kill Stiles. The first attempt wasn’t successful, Kate shot Noah, he died for a few minutes until the bite took but it was enough that Kate managed to escape with Stiles and stay as his master.” Peter said as Noah’s eyes flashed at the memory and Danny gulped loudly. 

“But…you obviously tried again, right?” 

“Yeah, we tried again. It didn’t go to plan though.” Jackson said.

“Hang on, you didn’t tell him about when you met me.” Sam interrupted. 

“Right, yeah, so, well, Stiles came back here, healed Noah and then headed to his mom’s grave with the intention of killing himself.” Cora summarised, “Kate turned up and stopped him, ordered him to kill us or hold us still while she killed us. Stiles twisted her words enough that she just believed we were dead, he said his goodbyes to Noah, leaving him a coded message that it wasn’t his choice, that Kate had control, then they left. We found out Kate had implanted a tracker in Stiles and tracked them to a campground about a hundred miles away. By the time we arrived Kate had already found Sam and his mom and dad. She bit Sam…”

“So he’s a werewolf too?” 

“Not until I hit puberty apparently.” Sam input. 

“Then she told Stiles to make sure Sam couldn’t run while she hunted his parents. She killed them both. But while she was hunting them, Stiles managed to fight the orders long enough for Sam to run away, then Derek found him in the woods…”

“Stiles told me he’d be there, he said Derek would help me.” Sam said. 

“…And he stayed with us.” Cora concluded. 

“So the second attempt also didn’t go to plan.” Jackson said, “Kate had some guys with her, ones that spent the year basically torturing Stiles whenever she was having a break. She’d ordered one of them to be in charge of Stiles when they went to get coffee. We tried to separate them, but he ordered Stiles to keep us still and then Kate got Derek to taste Stiles’ blood. His reaction was similar to yours although he somehow managed to stop himself before he actually raped Stiles, but it was a lot closer to happening than with you. Then, Matt, one of Kate’s guys, he issued the challenge and we were all caught off guard. Derek killed Kate, thinking that then Noah could challenge Matt and he’d be in control of Stiles.”

“So, Noah can order Stiles to do anything he wants?” Danny asked in puzzlement. 

“Not exactly.” Noah said, glancing to Derek. 

“It turns out,” Derek pulled the chain from his under his shirt and the ring glistened in the firelight, “the person who kills the original master ends up as the new master. And now, the only way for Noah to become Stiles’ master, is if he challenges and kills me. So, instead, we’re trying to find a way to reverse the original ritual and break the binding that Stiles’ magic has to this ring.” 

“Wow.” Danny muttered, trying to process everything he’d just heard. “Just, wow.” 

“Yeah, tell us about it.” Erica said. 

“I have questions.” Danny said a few minutes later. 

“We’d be surprised if you didn’t.” Lydia replied. 

“Okay, number one, how did Stiles escape her long enough to get back here and heal his dad? Two, can you order him to do absolutely anything? Three, what happened to Gerard? If he took Stiles, why did he let Kate become his master instead of taking ownership himself? How powerful is Stiles? I mean, if he basically brought his dad back from the dead? Plus, faking killing all of you, how easy was that to do? And, then there’s the whole conversation about werewolves, like, do you guys go out murdering people every full moon? Are you all wolves? I know Allison and Chris are related to hunters, so, are they wolves and disowned from their family? Or are they hunters? But how are they hunters if they are also pack? And…”

“Alright, Jesus, give us a chance to answer some of these first.” Chris muttered and Danny blushed. 

“Sorry.” 

“They are all valid questions.” Peter agreed. “We’re not monsters, and we don’t go around killing every full moon. I did kill a few people, those I thought were responsible for the fire that murdered my family. But, when Derek killed me, and became Alpha, I was brought back, with help from Lydia, and I am much saner than I was, I haven’t killed anyone since so it’s definitely a good thing. Other than that, we try to avoid killing unless it’s an absolute necessity, you know, self-defence kind of thing.”

“I’m a banshee.” Lydia input, “I’m still learning what it’s all about, but, that’s what I am. Allison and Chris are both hunters, but they’ve disowned their family, not the other way around. They protect those who cannot protect themselves. Jackson, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Noah and Scott are all bitten wolves. Peter, Cora and Derek are all born wolves. Melissa is human, although a complete kick ass human. Sam has been bitten and it’s taken because it didn’t kill him, but we won’t know if he’s a wolf or another type of were until he hits puberty and goes through his first change. And Stiles is a caster. Derek is the Alpha, which is kind of like the leader of the group, he is stronger, faster, more dangerous than the rest of us, but, not as dangerous as Stiles. Derek is sort of like our protector. We all come up with suggestions and make our own choices and everything like that, but I don’t know, we’re a family, I mean, technically, Derek could order us to do stuff that we don’t want to do, but, he wouldn’t. He says things, sometimes we listen to him, sometimes we don’t, but we know he always has our best interests at heart.” 

“And Stiles is more dangerous than Derek?” Danny asked for clarification. 

“Oh hell yeah he is.” Scott said almost proudly, “He can pretty much do anything he sets his mind to, although he hasn’t told us everything just yet. There’s certain things that Derek can’t order him to do, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t do it if he tried maybe, but, like, he did this awesome spell the other night, although he didn’t mean to so I don’t know if that counts, and, well, we’re not sure if it works or not, but, the whole house shook and Stiles passed out and he used like all his magic which is why he didn’t have a lot to be able to control you when you got his blood because he was still replenishing. But point being, we’re supposedly invisible to our enemies now. I’m not sure how it’s going to work. If it works. But it was pretty cool.”

“Invisible to enemies?” Danny muttered quietly as everyone nodded. “Are there a lot of enemies to be worried about? What about Gerard?” 

“We know he’s alive, but that’s all we know. Stiles isn’t allowed to tell us, it’s something to do with a specific phrase or something, he tried to tell us, but he couldn’t speak, not without the orders Kate issued starting to affect him.” Noah explained, “Derek has cancelled out as many as he can, but it’s a complicated process, he can’t just tell Stiles to ignore her old orders, he has to cancel them out individually, like when she ordered him not to eat, Derek had to tell him it was okay to eat whatever and whenever he wanted.”

“She ordered him not to eat!?” Danny said incredulously, looking at the sleeping Stiles. 

“She ordered him to do a lot of things. Not to eat, not to sleep, when he could and couldn’t talk, calling her his master, to hurt himself, to hurt others, to stay still while they did ‘things’ to him, that although he is still a virgin, it wasn’t through lack of effort on her part. The list goes on and on.” Allison said in disgust, “The thought of us being related in any way makes me sick to my stomach.” 

“You’re nothing like her.” Scott said reassuringly, “She was evil…” He paused, glancing across to Stiles, listening to something she couldn’t hear, a moment later Stiles’ eyes fluttered open and they all let out a collective sigh of relief. 

“Hey kid, how are you feeling?” Noah said, bending down and running a hand over Stiles’ forehead, Stiles sat up, moving away from Derek and looking around the room in confusion, the last thing he remembered was being in the classroom with Danny. 

“What happened?” He asked, the pack all looked at him in worry and Stiles guessed that meant it had been bad, before he’d properly assessed the situation Sam was launching himself at him, throwing himself in to Stiles’ arms and hugging him tightly, “Hey, hey, shhh, it’s okay, it’s alright, I’m fine.” Stiles reassured him. 

“’I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it, I swear I didn’t mean it.” Sam sobbed while Stiles rubbed his back soothingly. 

“It’s okay, it’s alright, don’t worry, it’s fine.” Stiles said gently while Derek reached around Stiles’ side in order to rub Sam’s back too, both of them comforting him as much as they could. 

“No, no, I don’t hate you Stiles, I don’t hate you, please, please don’t hate me, don’t be mad at me. I’m so sorry.” Sam continued to sob. 

“Hey, hey, listen to me Sam, I will never hate you, never, not ever, okay, I love you kid, nothing is ever going to change that, nothing you say or do will stop me from loving you. It’s okay, it’s okay.” Stiles said, clinging a little tighter to Sam as he spoke, glad when he felt Derek’s arm tighten a little more too, taking comfort in that, in having Derek next to him. 

Eventually Sam’s tears subsided and he looked up at Stiles guiltily, swiping at the drying tear tracks on his cheeks. Stiles gave him a soft smile, telling Sam that it was all okay without saying a word, and Sam grinned, clutching Stiles a little tighter before finally letting go of him. 

“I really am sorry about what I said this morning, I just, you didn’t come to tell me story and I thought you forgot about me and you didn’t care and I just, I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry bud.” Stiles sighed heavily, cursing internally, after everything that had happened with Danny telling Sam a story really had slipped his mind, he had been so wrapped up in his own head, god, he was such an idiot, he was so selfish and stupid and such a disappointment, he despised himself for letting Sam think that he’d forgotten him. “I’m really sorry.” He said. 

“Do you remember what I was saying before you sort of went all funny?” Danny asked and Stiles blinked at him slowly. 

“Um, maybe?” 

“I was saying sorry. For telling people about your scars, because I was freaking out about everything and all that, and, god, yeah, even though I was freaking out, I still shouldn’t have betrayed your trust like that and I’m really sorry. Please can you forgive me?” 

“Of course.” Stiles said solemnly, “But, you have to know, I’m sorry too. You know, I never meant for you to be exposed to my blood, and, if I’d been able to talk to you, I mean, like, if you had been able to have a normal conversation, I mean, say something that actually made sense, well not sense, what you were saying did make sense, but, not good sense, if you get me, and, well, my point is, if I had been able to ask what you wanted and been able to get some kind of sensible reply, then, you have to know that I would have done. I just, I didn’t want you to die because of me, and, if we didn’t do something, then that is exactly what would have happened, so, I’m sorry.” 

“You shouldn’t be sorry. I mean, it was an accident, it’s not like you could have planned getting hit by a baseball, which, you couldn’t stop with magic because you didn’t have a massive amount of magic because of some accidental huge spell from the night before that may or may not have worked. But, yeah, it was an accident, none of us could have predicted it happening, and, really, the fact that you chose to save my life, even when it meant doing something you weren’t happy with, well, I appreciate it, so, thank you.” Danny said and Stiles stared at him in disbelief, “Plus, you know, the getting to kiss you was kind of cool, I mean, you’re a good kisser.” He added and Stiles flushed brightly while Derek glared at him like he wanted to rip him to pieces. Danny obviously didn’t notice but the rest of the pack did and they all tensed slightly. 

“Um, I guess I should say thanks?” Stiles replied uncertainly and Danny grinned. 

“Yeah, take it as a compliment, I don’t say that about a lot of people.” Danny replied easily. “So, can we go back to my questions? If Stiles was Kate’s prisoner how did he escape to get back here and heal Noah? And, why didn’t Gerard want you? I mean, if you’re as powerful as it sounds like you are, why didn’t Gerard bind you to him rather than give you to Kate?” Stiles opened and closed his mouth a few times before he winced and black lines began to appear on his skin. 

“Stiles, stop it.” Derek ordered and the pack all looked at him in surprise, “You can’t talk about Gerard, we all know that. Don’t hurt yourself trying to.” He amended and Stiles nodded gratefully as Derek turned to look at Danny, “We know from what Matt said that Gerard’s original intention was to give Stiles to Matt, but, when Kate found out about it, found out that Stiles was the caster Gerard had, Kate said she wanted him, because she knew it would hurt us when we found out. We don’t know why Gerard was planning to give Matt the ring in the first place, and, I guess we won’t find that out until we break the bindings, and that’s if Stiles even knows Gerard’s reasoning which there’s no guarantee he does?” Stiles nodded slightly before it cut off with a grimace, “Okay, so he does know his reasoning, great, just another reason we need to hurry up and break the god damn bindings.”

“Alright, so, you can’t talk about Gerard, what about escaping from Kate? I mean, if she had you on lock down, how did you get away long enough to get to Beacon Hills? Can you talk about that?” 

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded clearing his throat slightly. 

“How come you never told us that?” Scott complained. 

“It wasn’t like you asked. Besides, we had bigger things to worry about, bigger questions that needed answers, did it really matter how I escaped? Just that I had done?” Stiles replied. 

“I guess not.” Scott mumbled a minute later, “So, how did you get away from her then?” 

“Well, um, it’ll sound stupidly simple really, we were heading in this direction slowly, stopping off whenever Kate needed to blow off some steam…”

“Does that mean killing people?” Sam asked with wide eyes. 

“Not always.” Stiles said and the wolves all looked at him when they heard the lie in his words, knowing it was only to comfort Sam, even the humans among them had picked up on the lie, it was only Sam who didn’t know the truth, “Sometimes she just hurt people, but she didn’t always kill them. Anyway, I knew she wanted to come back here, because she wanted to make Chris pay, she wanted the pack to see me and think I’d joined her, chosen to side with her, so you’d all hate me right before she killed you. She told me about her plans a lot. I’d tried to keep her away from here as long as I could, trying to draw out her experiments, make them last longer than they maybe should have done, just to keep her away from here. Then, when we were about a day out of town, I was panicking, I knew she knew it too, but there was nothing I could do. I decided to annoy her, just because there was nothing else I could do, so I started talking about how she was such a let down, how Gerard would be so disappointed in her that she hadn’t learned how to get complete control over me, that she would never be daddy’s favourite…”

“I bet that went down really well.” Chris scoffed and Stiles grinned. 

“Yeah, believe me she was not a happy bunny. The guys found it hilarious though, they started laughing at one comment and then she flipped out…when she was done with me she ordered me out of her sight, that she didn’t want to see me, I left the van, with the intention of waiting outside until the morning, but, then I just started running, I ran and no orders held me back, so I ran in this direction until I managed to hitch a lift and then, well, you guys know the rest. I went to the hospital, healed dad, headed out to say bye to mom, and, you turned up.” He explained. 

“So when you made the comment about ‘daddy must be so proud’…”

“Yeah, I’d spent the afternoon the day before giving her shit about how disappointed he was in her. I’m surprised she didn’t rip my throat out there and then.” Stiles shrugged, “Oh well, Derek got her in the end, so, it doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it sound a little too simple? Like she just orders you out of her sight and you can actually leave?” Peter said. 

“I guess she figured there wasn’t much I’d be able to do and nowhere I could hide. I wasn’t allowed to take the tracker out, so she was always going to be able to find me. I was under orders to never tell anyone I had magic or anything about our situation, unless she was there and wanted me to tell people. Besides, I’m willing to bet my freedom that she knew I would come home, try to warn you guys, or stop her somehow. Maybe she let me leave, maybe she wanted me to realise there was no way to stop her, that I’d never be free. I don’t know, and, honestly, it doesn’t matter. Whatever she was thinking or planning, it doesn’t matter. We’re alive, she’s dead, she can’t hurt anyone else.” Stiles said. 

“I’m glad she’s dead, she was mean. And scary.” Sam muttered and Stiles rubbed his hair affectionately. 

“Yeah she was very mean. I’m glad she’s dead too.” 

“I don’t know anyone who isn’t.” Noah said and Stiles grinned. 

“So, time for my question,” Stiles said and they all looked at him expectantly, “What happened? I was in the classroom with Danny and then I went really cold and my head hurt and I don’t remember what happened after that? Did I pass out?”

“You sort of looked like you were about to fall over, so I grabbed you to keep you upright and we left the classroom. Derek met us on the front steps and we drove you back here, you were barely conscious the whole way and then you started to warm up and you fell asleep.” Danny said.

“You were muttering something though.” Derek input, “I wasn’t sure what it was, I couldn’t hear you properly, but, you were saying something about ‘here’? or maybe it was ‘there’? You were pretty out of it though, so, I don’t know if it would have made sense even if I could hear you.”

“If it’s not something a werewolf can hear then chances are it wasn’t supposed to be heard.” Lydia said and Danny gaped at her. 

“So you guys have claws and teeth and glowing eyes and can hear better than normal humans? What else can you do?” 

“Enhanced eyesight and sense of smell as well as hearing, we run at a higher temperature than you so we’re always warm. We can run fast, faster than any human, and can track people and animals with ease. We’re predators, but we’re not monsters. Also, there’s the possibility of a full shift, completely shifting in to a wolf. It isn’t easy, and not many werewolves can do it, it involves finding complete peace with your wolf, which is hard to do. Your wolf feels like a physical thing inside you, it isn’t feral, but it’s definitely wild. It wants to protect what is ours, it is primal in a way, focusing on the things we need, mainly food, a lot of food because we have higher metabolisms so lots of food is a necessity. It’s survival instincts, more than our human sides. It’s why we have anchors, something that anchors us to our humanity, keeps us from giving in to our wild sides.” Isaac explained.

“And what are your anchors? Are they really personal?” Danny queried. 

“They’re different for each of us.” Peter said, “Isaac is right, our wolves are our more animalistic natures, and, when we feel like our wolves are gaining control, we need to think of our anchors, remind ourselves of our humanity, it could be something like our family, a person or a place or a feeling or memory or emotion. It’s different for each of us and they are all personal and they can change. For example, mine used to be my family, when they died, the only thing that anchored me to my humanity was my desire for revenge, I know Derek’s used to be his anger, but, I also know mine has changed again, the thing that anchors me to my humanity now is this pack, this family. It is the only thing that keeps me human and I would be lost without you all.” 

“Wow.” Scott muttered and Peter looked at him, “Just, um, it’s great that you opened up like that dude, I know it must have taken a lot.” Peter only shrugged, “Well, mine is Allison.”

“Surprise.” Jackson mumbled and Erica snorted with laughter just as the clock in the kitchen chimed to say it was already nine in the evening. 

“We’ve obviously lost track of time, maybe we should continue this tomorrow…Stiles?” Derek asked, looking to Stiles when his heart started to race. 

Stiles heard Derek’s words and it was like something connected in his brain that hadn’t before, god, no, this couldn’t be happening, it was too soon, he hadn’t been able to warn them, and, god, what was he supposed to do? His mind was racing, he had to find a way to warn them, he just had to. 

Derek could see Stiles’ mind was racing, something was happening but he wasn’t sure what, Stiles’ arms had tightened slightly around Sam, as if he wanted to hold him close, as if he wanted to protect him. 

“I’ve lost time before.” Stiles muttered before the words were stopped from his mouth.

“What?” Derek asked in confusion, Stiles could only open and close his mouth, black lines appearing on his skin but still, Stiles tried to speak, “Stiles, relax, it’s okay.”

“No, no it’s not.” Stiles said sounding panicked. He let go of Sam, jumping to his feet and moving to the pile of books on the side while the rest of the pack watched on in befuddlement, looking to Derek as if he had the answers. 

“Stiles, just, stop a second and talk to us. What’s wrong?” Noah said. 

“I can’t.” Stiles replied. 

“You can’t stop?” Lydia asked. 

“I can’t talk. I can’t tell you.” He said before snatching one book up victoriously and flipping through it until he found the right page. He moved towards Danny who looked more than a little confused, but, Stiles had to do this, he laid a hand on Danny’s shoulder and then recited, “Protect what is mine, protect it from harm, do as I wish and ensure it is safe…”

“Stiles! Stop!” Derek said scandalised and Stiles turned to stare at him, “Last time you cast that spell you were unconscious for the entire night and that was when you were at full power!”

“And this time I only have Danny left to cast it on.” Stiles argued. 

“Wait until you are back at full power, then if you still want to, you can cast it.” Derek said reasonably.

“No, it can’t wait, there’s no time, he…” Stiles trailed off. 

“He? He who? Gerard?” Chris quizzed and Stiles glared at the floor. 

“Gerard? You think he’s coming?” Derek said. 

“Let me cast the spell. Let me hide all of you. Please.” Stiles pleaded and Derek stared at him, the terror in Stiles’ eyes was obvious, whatever he knew, whatever he couldn’t say, it was serious. Derek nodded and Stiles relaxed slightly, giving him a grateful smile, “Protect what is mine, protect it from harm, do as I wish and ensure it is safe, protect it from enemies, hide it from seeking eyes, hide it from their ears, make it unseen to those that threaten it, make it safe, protect it from threats.” Stiles recited. There was a faint tremor, nothing like they’d experienced previously and Stiles wobbled slightly but stayed on his feet and Danny looked at the pack with a raised eyebrow.

“So, am I like, invisible now?” He asked. 

“To enemies. We think. We don’t know how it works, it’s a spell Stiles found in the book and read out accidently. It does something. We just don’t know what.” Melissa said. 

“Okay, great, I’m invisible to enemies, I’m cool with that. So, you think Gerard is coming back? That he’s a threat?” Danny said, Stiles couldn’t say anything, but it gave them the answer they needed. 

“Alright, so, we prepare ourselves. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We take precautions.” Derek said seriously, “We stick together where possible. We make sure he can’t pick us off one at a time.”

“Hang on, if Stiles is as badass as it sounds like he is, can’t we just order him to kill Gerard?” Danny suggested. 

“I can’t order him to kill anyone, that’s one of the restrictions. But you could stop him, couldn’t you? I mean, he’s human, sort of, I know he received the bite, but it was contaminated, he never fully turned, he’s sort of human. If you could have an entire pack at your mercy, then surely one human wouldn’t be difficult? Even if you’re not at full power?” Derek replied.

“I can’t.” Stiles whimpered, looking around the room as if he’d be able to spot a solution to the orders that held him in place. His eyes narrowed and he rushed forwards, flipping through the pages of the book trying to find another spell, “Help me find a spell, any spell, I don’t care what it does, but it has to be big, lots of magic.” 

“Stiles…” Allison said in confusion, “You’ll need magic to stop Gerard. Besides, the last protection spell nearly killed you, you can’t cast another big spell when you’re this low on magic.”

“If I have magic, you’re all dea…” He said, his words cutting off as black lines appeared on his skin and Derek stared at him, trying to piece everything together. 

“Gerard still has some way to control you.” Derek muttered and Stiles looked at him, his eyes almost reflecting his relief even as the lines began to fade from his skin, “How can he have control over you? I mean, Kate was your master, I killed her, I’m your master now. You obey my orders. Gerard can’t order you, can he?” Stiles’ silence was the answer he needed and Derek felt his stomach drop, the entire pack was standing in a stunned silence. Stiles winced, wishing he could tell them everything, but, he couldn’t, he wasn’t allowed. 

“Okay, okay, we can figure this out.” Lydia said, trying to keep everyone calm. “So, we know Gerard has some way to control Stiles, something that makes him ‘lose track of time’, something that will mean we all end up dead if Gerard finds us…hang on, wait, you lost time today, you lost time, from the classroom, you were conscious, but you don’t remember it. You said something that none of us heard.” She paused, “Derek, you said that you thought it was ‘there’ or ‘here’?” 

“Yeah, maybe?” Derek replied. 

“Gerard isn’t coming. He’s already here. He’s in town. Whatever happened at the school, that was something to do with him.” Lydia said and they all gaped at her as she began to put the pieces together, “Okay, there’s two issues we need to address, how does he have control and how do we stop him from having control?” 

“Couldn’t we challenge him like we did with Kate?” Erica suggested. 

“It’s a possibility, but how does it work? Having two masters? Is it the same as having two Alphas? That you answer to both of them?” Chris said. 

“Wait, what about, hang on,” Jackson frowned, “Wasn’t there something about being able to sort of allow someone to borrow your caster, like, temporarily transferring ownership? I’m sure I remember reading something about that. Gerard was a control freak; we all know that. There’s no way he’d give up having a caster bound to him. What if Stiles was originally bound to him, and, he maybe, like, gave Stiles to Kate on loan? Now Kate is dead, even though Derek is his master, Gerard could take him back at any time, because he’s his true master?”

“That’s not possible, is it?” Noah asked in horror. 

“I need to leave.” Stiles said in reply, already heading towards the door. 

“What!? What are you talking about? You can’t leave! Gerard could be out there.” Cora said. 

“I can’t be here, he’s…god damn it!” Stiles cursed, “It’s not safe for you guys if I’m around. I need to get as far away from you as I can.”

“Stiles just stop!” Melissa shouted as Stiles headed for the door. “You have a tracker implanted in you.” She said and Stiles stilled as if he had only just thought of that, “You can’t outrun him. He’ll find you. No matter where you go.” 

“No, I can’t outrun it.” Stiles paused, “But, I can buy you guys some time. I’ll head West, you guys head North or South or East or wherever you want, get a plane or a bus or a train or whatever, don’t go anywhere you’ve been before, nowhere where I can find you, make a new home, settle somewhere else, be safe instead.”

“You are not sacrificing yourself for us Stiles.” Derek said angrily and Stiles glared at him. 

“That’s not your choice to make! If you stay here, you will all die. He…” Stiles choked on his words. 

“Stiles, I lost you once, I’m not losing you again.” Noah said, “We beat Kate, we can beat him too. We can kill him. We can make sure you never have to worry about him again.”

“This is different, Kate was evil, she got off on hurting me, she liked seeing me hurting, so she kept me human. He…what he…I’m not the same with hi…fuck!” Stiles screamed in frustration, pacing across the room and clenching his hands into fists to try and keep his terror and helplessness under control, he had to think, he had to find a way to get them to understand, “The phrase! The phrase, I told you…”

“Yeah, you said there’s a phrase, that you couldn’t tell us about Gerard, that you were under orders, that it was only when this phrase was said could you tell us.” Lydia said and Stiles nodded. 

“It’s so much more than that though.” He said desperately, “It does something…it changes…I’m not the same…I lose my anchor.” He managed to gasp out as the black lines appeared on his skin and his lungs began to produce sludge, he pressed his lips together tightly and the feeling of sickness dissipated slowly. 

“Your anchor? Do casters have anchors too?” Danny asked. 

“I don’t think so.” Peter replied looking at Stiles curiously, “But, maybe ‘anchor’ doesn’t mean the same thing as it does with us, maybe, Stiles is saying that this phrase, whatever it is, causes a change in him, does something to him, makes him lose his anchor…makes him lose his link to his humanity maybe?” 

Stiles tried to nod and the black lines reappeared instantly, he turned around and threw up all over the floor, the sludge thick and heavy in his throat. 

“Hey, Stiles, it’s okay, it’s okay, you’re okay, you’re alright.” Derek said, rushing forward and rubbing a reassuring hand over Stiles’ back. 

Stiles could feel the panic attack starting but he couldn’t stop it, they were all going to die, Gerard was coming and they would all die and Stiles wouldn’t be able to save them this time, wouldn’t be able to stop him, wouldn’t be able to stop himself. He couldn’t do it; he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t do this, he wouldn’t survive this, he couldn’t go through it again. 

“Kill me, please, please kill me, please, don’t let him do this, please, please, please just kill me.” Stiles whimpered and Derek felt his heart shattering, he hugged Stiles tighter, holding him as close as he could, trying to show Stiles that he wasn’t alone even as it felt like Stiles was falling apart in his arms. “Please, please, I can’t go back to that, I can’t go back to it, please, I can’t, I can’t, I don’t want to be that, I don’t want to, god, please, please, please, don’t make me, god, please kill me, please.”

“It’s okay Stiles, it’s alright.” Derek muttered soothingly as the rest of the pack crowded around them, reaching out to offer Stiles whatever comfort they could. Derek was terrified, Stiles was so scared of what Gerard was going to do that he was literally trembling in Derek’s arms and the fact that Stiles was so scared made Derek shake with anger, Stiles was completely terrified of Gerard and Derek resolved to end this, to make sure that Stiles never had a reason to be afraid again. Derek would rip him apart piece by piece and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. “Stay here.” He said, letting go of Stiles and heading towards the door. 

“Where are you going?” Peter sighed heavily. 

“To kill Gerard.” Derek said seriously. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s dangerous, even if he isn’t fully turned, he’s still smart and cunning. I’ll come with you.” Chris said. 

“Let’s just stop and think about this…” Lydia said trying to be reasonable.

“You heard Stiles, if he gets to Stiles, we’re all dead. He can’t run from him with that stupid tracker in him, he can’t hide anywhere. We can’t take it out without causing Stiles to break orders that we can’t counteract without some stupid phrase. Stiles would rather be dead than go back to whatever Gerard has planned for him, we can’t lose him. So, we stop Gerard before he gets to Stiles. That’s the only way. The only way for us all to survive. We take him out before he gets to Stiles.” Derek explained. 

“Okay, well, how do we track him? Anybody remember his scent before he left the warehouse that night? The mountain ash?” Scott said. 

“That won’t work.” Stiles said, finally getting his breathing back under control. He couldn’t let them go after him, not without knowing everything, he opened his mouth to try and explain but no sound came out. He gritted his teeth, looking around the room, trying to find something that would help him explain why Scott’s plan wouldn’t work, his mind was racing, he had to get them to see, but he couldn’t speak. Stiles’ mind clicked in to place and he moved to the kitchen, the rest of the pack moving after him slowly, Stiles grabbed a knife and stabbed it in to his hand before any of them could stop him, ignoring the cries of surprise and shock from behind him. 

“What the hell are you doing!?” Noah said rushing forward and grabbing Stiles’ hand to stop the bleeding, watching in awe as the wound began to heal right in front of his eyes. “You heal. You heal. It’s okay. You can heal.” 

“Exactly!” Stiles said, raising his eyebrows, trying to communicate without being able to say anything. 

“’Exactly’? ‘Exactly’? You can heal, ‘exactly’?” Lydia muttered under her breath before she gasped, “You can heal! You healed Gerard! The mountain ash scent won’t work because you healed him. I mean, I guess you had no choice in the matter, he probably ordered you to heal him almost the instant he got control. So, he won’t smell of mountain ash, but did you heal him so he’s human again? Or just heal him enough to get rid of the mountain ash? Can you do that? Heal people who have been bitten so they are human again? No, that’s ridiculous, if you could do that you would have made the offer to Sam. But you haven’t. So, you can’t. Gerard isn’t human, and he’s not contaminated with mountain ash, he’s full blown were-something.” Lydia said and they all looked to Stiles for confirmation, he only hung his head in shame. 

“It wasn’t your fault Stiles, he would have ordered you to heal him, there’s nothing you could have done differently.” Allison said quietly but Stiles shook his head. 

“I should have died.” Stiles said in defeat. 

“The scent!” Peter said suddenly victoriously, “The scent in the woods! It was a were! It was him. I know the scent; I can try and track it.” 

“Alright, let’s do it.” Derek said. 

“Hang on, you can’t go after him.” Stiles said in horror. “You don’t have all the facts, the ring…” He started before he was cut off by his orders.

“What other choice do we have?” Derek argued back, “You can’t run away, he’ll find you. You can’t fight his orders if he’s your master. You aren’t sacrificing yourself to protect us and I’m not running away and abandoning my territory because of him. I’m sure as hell not letting you kill yourself or killing you or letting anyone else kill you. And I’m not letting you cast a spell that drains so much magic or energy from you that it kills you just because if you don’t have magic Gerard can’t use you to kill us. Most importantly though, this pack needs you, we need you Stiles, we can’t lose you. So, we have to take the fight to him, and you cannot be there. Stiles, I’m sorry but you cannot come with us.”

“Derek…no.” Stiles said looking at him in betrayal. “You can’t do this. Listen to me, you have to listen to me, you can’t do this, the ring…” 

“I’m sorry Stiles, but…you are not to leave this house, you are not to follow us, you are to stay here and wait for us to return.” Derek ordered. 

“No, Derek, don’t do this. Please don’t do this.” Stiles pleaded.

“I’m sorry.” Derek apologized, “But you have to follow my orders and I’m ordering you to stay here. Stay in the house. Do not follow us. Do you understand me?” Stiles glared at him for a few minutes before gritting his teeth. 

“Yes master.” Stiles snarled before storming up the stairs and slamming the door to his bedroom shut behind him. 

Derek let out a heavy sigh as the pack all stared at him in disbelief, he hadn’t wanted to do it, but it was the only way to keep them safe, if Stiles was there, he could be turned against them. The only chance they had was to get to Gerard before Gerard got to Stiles. 

“The rest of you should stay here too, it’s safer for all of you to be here.” Derek said before heading towards the door.

“Hang on, we’re coming with you.” Noah said as Melissa grabbed her coat and the rest of pack moved after him, “Sam you stay here, see if you can get Stiles to talk to you.” Noah advised.

“Danny, you should head home, or stay here, or whatever, it’s not safe for you either.” Jackson said, Derek felt a bit bad, he’d forgotten all about Danny. The knowledge that Gerard was here in town, that he would be coming for Stiles, it made everything else seem unimportant, he had to protect Stiles. 

“I’ll stay here with Stiles and Sam, maybe they’ll be able to help me adjust to all this.” Danny replied, he wasn’t sure if Derek had heard him or not, he was already out of the house and heading to his car, Peter jumping in with him as they headed away from the house.


	12. Chapter 12

“Stiles?” Sam knocked on his door quietly, glancing a few times at Danny before Stiles finally opened the door. 

“What’s up kid?” Stiles said, already bending down to Sam and resting a hand on his shoulder.

“The rest of them left, they told me to stay here with you.” Sam replied, “Plus, Danny said he’d stay too.” He pointed to Danny and Stiles glanced to him, obviously having not previously realized that Danny was there. 

“Well, we best leave them to it, hadn’t we? Hey, isn’t it past your bed time? And didn’t I promise to tell you a story?” Stiles smiled although it didn’t quite reach his eyes, “Come on kid, we’ll can crash in Derek’s room tonight and I’ll tell you a great story.” 

“Is Danny coming with us?”

“Sure, if he wants to, it looks like he’s part of the pack now anyway, best get used to seeing his ugly mug around.” Stiles teased and Danny rolled his eyes affectionately. 

Danny was a bit uncertain about going in to Derek’s room, but, once he saw the enormous bed, he realized why Stiles had said they could sleep in here. 

“Yes, we all sleep in here together sometimes.” Stiles said.

“How did you…”

“I could practically see the question Danny; you're not exactly subtle.” Stiles remarked and Danny blushed before nodding. 

“Thanks.” He replied, Stiles only shrugged, like it was no big deal. “So, what’s the story?” Danny asked.

“I don’t know, what do you feel like tonight Sam?” Stiles asked. 

“Could we have a happy story? Like my mom and dad meeting and falling in love and getting married? No fighting or anything?” He said quietly. 

“Of course kid.” Stiles said, trying not to think about how low his magic was and instead waving his fingers and conjuring up images of Sam’s mom and dad in the air above them, he ignored Danny’s audible gasp of surprise as he made the two figures reach out and grasp hands, “Once upon a time, not so many years ago, there was a young woman called Sarah who had been travelling the world, she’d seen so many different countries, met so many different people, then, she met Jack…” Stiles began, continuing his story as Sam slowly drifted off to sleep to the sound of Stiles’ voice and the images of his mother and father floating above him. 

Stiles sat up not long after that, motioning for Danny to follow him back downstairs, Danny headed after him and they went in to the kitchen, Stiles pouring himself a mug of coffee and offering one to Danny, he declined. 

“So, I’m sure you have a million questions, it doesn’t look like we can do anything until the pack come back, so, if you want me to, I’ll answer whatever questions you have? If I have the ability to of course?” Stiles said. 

“Can you start from the beginning? When did you find out about werewolves? When did this all start?” Danny replied.

Stiles nodded, trying to decide where the best place to start was, it was a long story and it would take time, but, it wasn’t like they had anything else to do and it wasn’t like Stiles was even allowed to leave the house until Derek returned, Stiles just prayed he did return, if Gerard killed him, killed the pack, there was nothing Stiles could do to help them. He understood why Derek had ordered him to stay here, he understood that if he was with them then he would be at best a liability and at worst a threat. But still, having to follow orders, being told what he had to do, without a discussion, without an explanation, without Derek and the pack having all the facts before they ran off into the night and Stiles didn’t know if he was ever going to see them again, if they’d die because he hadn’t been able to tell them everything. God, he couldn’t think about that, he couldn’t think about them dead because of him, he had to distract himself before he had another panic attack. He went in to the living room, sitting on the sofa so that he could see the drive straight out of the window, determined not to miss it the second the pack were back, Danny followed after him, sitting on the other end of the sofa and making himself comfortable.

“Okay, so Derek’s family were all werewolves, born wolves, and they died in a fire almost eight years ago now. Kate Argent was the one who killed them, for no other reason than they were wolves…” Stiles started, launching it to the full story and doing his best to make sure he didn’t miss anything important. 

Peter led them out to where he and Chris had been out earlier when he’d originally caught the scent and Derek let out a sigh of relief. If they had his scent, they were going to find him. Gerard was going to die tonight. 

They followed his trail for most of the night, weaving in and out of the preserve, heading in to town and even to the school, Gerard had been in town for a few days at least and they hadn’t noticed, Derek was so annoyed at himself, he should have known, he should have been able to tell that there was a threat to his pack in his town. He’d let them all down, he wouldn’t let it happen again. 

He knew all of them were exhausted, that they all needed to rest, but the thought of Gerard being out here, of Stiles being so terrified of him, Derek just wanted this to be over. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been following the current trail before he realised where it was leading and he cursed in fear. 

“The house! He’s heading for the house! He’s going after Stiles.” Derek shouted, racing forward, knowing the rest of the pack would no doubt be behind him somewhere, however Stiles was his only priority right now. 

Stiles didn’t even realise he was shivering until Danny handed him a blanket, he rubbed at his head wearily, wishing his headache – that seemed to have returned with a vengeance in the last half hour – would go away already. 

“Thanks.” He muttered, accepting the blanket gratefully. 

“Maybe you need to sleep, or rest or whatever, I know you’re worried about them, but, you know, they seem pretty capable of handling themselves, and, if you take your magic out of the mix, between them, Gerard shouldn’t be an issue, should he?”

“You don’t know what he’s capable…” Stiles gritted his teeth when words failed him and grimaced as his head gave a painful throb. 

“Sorry, let’s not talk about him, so, I think I’ve got the basics now, Peter bit Scott and Lydia – turning him into a wolf and her into a banshee. Derek killed Peter then he bit Jackson – who’d found out about it and wanted in on this world, and offered the bite to Isaac, Erica and Boyd who all accepted. Jackson ended up turning in to a kanima and when he died on the pitch it was actually him evolving, but Lydia managed to remind him who he was and that brought him back. Then Gerard took you and while you were away the pack found Cora who had been coming back to Beacon Hills because she’d heard about the new Hale Alpha?” 

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded in agreement, his head was pounding, his vision starting to swim and his teeth were chattering violently with cold. He froze with realisation. “He’s here. He’s coming.”

“What?” Danny said in shock as Stiles jumped to his feet. 

“He’s coming, that’s why I’m cold, why my head hurts, he’s coming, he’s coming for me.” Stiles said grabbing Danny’s wrist and dragging him towards the stairs, glancing at the front door, “Get upstairs, get to Sam, keep him safe.” 

“Stiles what are you talking…” Danny began, cutting himself off when his phone started ringing, “Jackson? Are you guys okay? What’s going on?” 

“Gerard is coming to the house! You guys have to get out of there now!” Jackson shouted as he ran, they had to get there, they had to get to them. Derek was only a step in front of him, clearly able to hear their conversation, the panic emitting from their Alpha was almost overwhelming, Derek was terrified. They needed to get back to the house now.

“I don’t…” Danny started.

“There’s no time.” Stiles shouted in to the phone, shoving Danny up the first step. “Run Danny, just run, the ring, he has to protect it, it’s the only chance you have, any of you have, tell Derek the ring…” Stiles let out a scream of pain, clutching at his head as if it was about to explode and suddenly the front door exploded inwards. 

Danny’s ears were ringing, his vision filled with smoke, there was debris from the shattered door littered all over the floor, Stiles was lying on the floor below him and there was a figure standing in the doorway ahead of him. Stiles groaned slightly, rolling to his side and looking at Danny with terror, mouthing at him to run, maybe Danny couldn’t hear him because of the ringing in his ears, maybe Stiles wasn’t even speaking, Danny didn’t know. There were two things he was certain of however, one, Gerard Argent was stepping over the threshold and in to the house, his eyes glowing purple, sharp teeth and claws that looked ready to rip him apart, and two, Stiles was telling him to run. Danny heard a voice shouting from the other end of the line and scrabbled to grab his phone, putting it to his ear, Jackson was shouting, telling Danny to talk to him, to tell him what was going on, that he was okay. Danny was too scared to even speak.

“Stiles.” Gerard greeted mockingly and Stiles sat upright, grimacing as he pressed a hand to a cut on his head and turning over to glare at Gerard. “I see you’ve been up to your tricks again.”

“Go to hell.” Stiles growled, Gerard pressed a button on a small remote in his hand and Stiles screamed, letting out a cry of such pain that Danny covered his ears and the wolves all faltered in their steps for a split second. Stiles was clutching at his head, trying to control his breathing as Danny rushed down the stairs and stood over Stiles. 

“You stay the hell away from him.” Danny said, Gerard didn’t even look at him, didn’t even acknowledge his statement, didn’t even look away from Stiles. 

“You’re going to obey my orders, you’re my caster remember, you belong to me, understood?” Gerard said, looking around the room as if searching for someone. 

“What’s wrong old man?” Stiles taunted, panting with pain, “Can’t see who you’re looking for?” He grinned and Gerard glared at him for a second before pressing the button on the remote again and Stiles screamed in agony again, clutching at his head, curling into the foetal position, desperate to make the pain stop. 

“I don’t know what you’ve done, how you’ve hidden them from me, but it won’t last long. I know they aren’t here right now I saw the cars leaving even if I couldn’t see who was driving them, leaving you here alone was their biggest mistake.” 

“Who says I’m alone?” Stiles laughed, waiting until Gerard turned his back slightly to mouth at Danny to run. Danny shook his head vehemently and Stiles glared at him, stopping the instant Gerard turned back to face him. 

“You’re going to stop them from getting within five feet of me, I might not be able to see them, but you can. I know you can. So, do what you’re good for and protect me as you are supposed to Monster, you are going to follow every order I have ever issued you with, you are not to let anyone challenge me for your ownership, you are to stop anyone from hurting me, you will do everything within your power to protect me, you do exactly as you are told and you do not fight my orders. And the Alpha, the second he arrives, make sure he can’t speak and can’t move, he’s to be held still and silent at all costs. They come within five-feet of me and you break their legs, understood?” Gerard snarled and Stiles glared at him, watching as Gerard’s finger hovered over the button on the remote. “I said, do you understand me?” 

“Fuck yo…” Stiles started, screaming when Gerard pressed the button and he felt a bolt of electricity shoot through his skull. A few moments later his screams fell silent, Stiles felt the floor under his cheek, he didn’t remember hitting the floor but he must have done, his whole body ached and he groaned as he sat back up, staring at Gerard with hatred, trying to ignore Danny when he moved, heading towards the kitchen, reappearing a minute later with a knife in hand. Stiles tried to shake his head but Danny wasn’t looking at him, too focused on his plan, Stiles felt his orders kick in and Danny stilled in his steps five feet away from Gerard, looking across at Stiles with surprise, Stiles could only look at him guiltily. 

“So, answer honestly boy, is anyone else in the house at the moment?” Gerard ordered. 

“Yes.” Stiles snarled through gritted teeth. 

“Yes what?” Gerard smirked. 

“Yes master.” He growled out a moment later. 

“Stiles!” Stiles heard Derek’s voice calling out for him, heard the footsteps pounding on the wood of the front step as the pack arrived home, flooding in to the living room and taking in the scene in front of them. Stiles couldn’t help but glance in their direction and it was enough of a giveaway that Gerard followed his gaze even if he couldn’t see what Stiles was looking at. 

“I take it that’s the rest of the ridiculous thorn-in-my-side Hale pack arriving home, is it?” Gerard asked. 

“Σε προκαλώ…” Derek attempted before the words were cut off, he was unable to speak, unable to move, he looked across at Stiles who could only look at him apologetically.

“Now, what I really want to know is why I can’t see them. But, more importantly, I want to see them. Reverse whatever you did.” Gerard ordered, Stiles grimaced, twitching his fingers slightly before letting out a sigh of relief. 

“I can’t.” He smiled and Gerard glared at him, pressing the button and Stiles screamed, clutching at his head as he writhed on the ground. 

“Stop it! God, stop it!” Noah screamed but Gerard obviously couldn’t hear him as he continued smirking at Stiles who had stilled now and was panting for breath on the ground.

“You will reverse it or it’s going to get a lot worse for you.” Gerard said. 

“Weren’t you listening asshole? I CAN’T. I don’t know how to reverse it and even if I did, I used so much magic casting the original spell, I don’t have the reserves at the moment to be able to do it. You can use that goddamn button all you want, but it won’t make the slightest bit of difference, I can’t do it, I literally can not do it, you stupid shit, whatever you do to me, you can’t get me to reverse it, they’ve got time to escape, you lose, old man.” Stiles spat in rage and Gerard stared at him for a few moments before sighing. 

“You know, I so hoped I’d get to do this.” Gerard said, “I mean, I know Kate preferred it when she could see how much you hated her, but it got so tiring, I much prefer when you can’t argue back.” 

“No, no, please.” Stiles whispered in horror, his gaze going to the stairs when Sam started down them, looking confused at the scene in front of him, looking at Stiles with wide eyes. 

“Your heart rate just sped up.” Gerard commented, “I wonder why that would be? You barely even glanced across there when the rest of the pack came home, but something has spooked you now, what? Is one of them trying to get to me? Have you had to hurt them? This whole not being able to see them thing is really rather annoying, but then you always were difficult. Oh well, we can stop that right now.” 

“Run! Derek, take Sam and run! All of you run! Run now! Please!” Stiles cried out right as Gerard pressed the button again and he screamed in agony, grabbing at the back of his head as he felt like his skull was being ripped apart. Derek tried to move forward, tried to get to Stiles, tried to kill Gerard but he couldn’t get closer, Stiles’ magic was holding him firmly in place and Derek cursed. He didn’t know what to do, he knew Stiles had told him to run, but leaving Stiles felt wrong on every level. 

“We shall put those dogs in the ground where they belong.” Gerard said and pressed the button again and Stiles screamed, screamed like he was dying, clutching at his head in pain, like he was in such agony and there was nothing Derek could do to help him. “We shall put those dogs in the ground where they belong.” Gerard repeated and Lydia gasped. 

“The phrase! That’s the phrase, the one that makes him lose his anchor.” She warned them as Gerard pressed the button and Stiles screamed again, crying out for them to run, to leave, to get out of here. Sam tried to run to him but Peter held an arm across his chest to stop him as Sam screamed out for him, Derek could only watch in horror, frozen in place, tears filling his eyes as he tried to fight his way free of Stiles’ magic, to speak, to do anything, as the rest of the pack stood by helplessly, not able to do anything other than watch as Gerard tortured Stiles in front of their eyes.

“We shall put those dogs in the ground where they belong.” Gerard repeated for a third time and pressed the button again, Stiles writhed in agony, screaming out in pain, until, a minute later he stilled completely. 

“Stiles?” Sam whispered but Stiles didn’t look up at him, instead he got to his feet slowly, steadily and kept his gaze on the ground, Gerard smirked, reaching out to tilt Stiles’ face up until they were on the same eye level. Stiles’ face was blank, there was no hatred there, no emotion of any kind, instead his gaze seemed unfocused, his movements seemed so stiff and unnatural, Derek could hear Stiles’ heart racing, beating so fast it sounded like it was going to burst straight out of his chest, and the pain, god the pain stank the entire room out, Stiles was in agony and he was terrified and yet there was no sign of it in his features. Derek felt more frightened than he’d ever been in his life, whoever was standing in front of them, it wasn’t the Stiles he knew. 

“That’s better Monster. Now, I want to see what you can see, show me.” Gerard ordered and Stiles reached out with no hesitation, no fight left in him, touching his fingertips to Gerard’s temples. Gerard stared around the room in surprise and grinned, “There you all are. I knew you were here somewhere.” He smirked. 

“Undo it. Whatever you’ve done to him, undo it, right now.” Noah growled and Gerard laughed. 

“Monster, break that one’s leg.” He said, Stiles barely flicked his fingers and Noah collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain as he grabbed at his broken leg, Stiles hadn’t shown any hesitation or any emotion, nothing other than following the orders he had been issued with. 

“Stiles! Stiles stop! You don’t want to hurt us, you know you don’t.” Scott said. 

“Sorry but Stiles isn’t home anymore, well, that’s not true, he is, he’s trapped in there somewhere. You see, after we had completed the binding ritual, I did this wonderful thing where I input an experimental implant in to Stiles’ brain. It did have minor side effects, such as the fact that it draws so much heat from the rest of his body that he will always be cold, even when it’s not active. But it does do a good job of what it’s supposed to do, which is send electric shocks through his brain, it’s very effective, there’s only so much pain the brain can take before it crumbles. The implant can hear my orders and force Stiles’ brain to comply, if he tries to think of anything else, he’ll get more shocks. We tried it on a few other people before Stiles, they never really recovered from it, apparently, they are trapped in there, they can see what’s happening, see what they are doing, but they can’t stop it, and, if they try, they suffer unimaginable pain. Your son is very strong, you should be proud of him Sheriff, the rest of them either didn’t survive the installation, or the initial activation, and never multiple switches, except, your son is still functioning in some form or another, admittedly none of them survived the removal attempts, I can’t imagine Stiles would either, not that I’m ever going to take it out, I mean, why would I? Having a monster like him ready to fulfil my every whim or desire. You should be very proud of him, even as he kills you.” Gerard taunted.

“You bastard. You complete and utter bastard.” Chris snarled and Gerard stared at him for a moment. 

“Ah, my son, the one I hoped would take over my empire, instead, he betrays me and sides with these animals…”

“You turned yourself in to one of them!” Allison interrupted. “And you were a monster long before you became a shifter.” 

“Such a shame you’ve destroyed my granddaughter too, there’s no hope for either of you, you’ll have to be executed along with the rest of this pack. But first,” Gerard looked to Derek, “I met with some mutual friends, they told me all about how my daughter died, how you caught her alone, how you challenged her for ownership when your pack outnumbered her ten to one, how you tore her throat out while she was distracted trying to fight off another member of your pack.”

“That’s not what happened.” Peter replied, pushing Sam behind him slightly as if that would help protect him. 

“No, I imagine it’s not, I imagine they were lying in the hopes that I would get them out of that godforsaken prison, that I would pull some strings and release them so that they wouldn’t spend the rest of their lives in that place for killing my daughter. I mean, I did get them out, but only so I could kill them myself, or, I intend to kill them, once they’ve outlived their usefulness anyway.” 

“Matt was the one who challenged her!” Isaac input and Gerard paused for a moment before shrugging.

“It doesn’t matter who challenged her, what I care about is the fact that someone took my caster from me and now I’m taking him back. Now, hand over the ring.” Gerard held out an outstretched hand and Derek opened his mouth for a second before closing it uselessly, “Let him speak monster, but, shut him up if he tries to challenge me or anything other than telling me what I want to know.” 

“What ring?” Derek tried. 

“Don’t play stupid with me boy. I know you have it. I know you took it from her body. Give it to me.” Gerard growled, his eyes flashing purple for a few moments before they faded back to their normal blue. 

“I don’t have it.” Derek said honestly, thanking his lucky stars that he had listened to Stiles, that he had heard the panic, the urgency in his voice, and decided the ring must hold some importance. Gerard heard his heartbeat, heard the truth in his words and glared at him for a second before clicking his fingers. 

“Monster, break the kids leg.” Gerard smirked. 

“NO!” The entire pack seemed to scream in unison but it made no difference, Stiles twisted his fingers and Sam screamed in agony, falling to the floor and clutching at his leg. 

“Next it’ll be his neck. Tell me where the ring is.” Gerard said and Derek snarled at him, his eyes glowing alpha red, his claws out and on display, he would protect this pack with everything he had. He surged forwards, freezing when Stiles’ magic froze him again, keeping him from Gerard. “You have one chance, tell me where the ring is or I’ll have my monster kill the kid and then start on the rest of…” Gerard trailed off when Derek and the rest of the pack vanished from his sight and he turned to look at Stiles who was still standing motionless next to him. “What are you doing!?”

“I can’t maintain it.” Stiles replied tonelessly, as if he was bored by the whole situation, his heart still racing so fast that Derek had no idea how long it would hold out at that pace. 

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t maintain it!?” Gerard snapped, glancing around the room, his gaze passing through the pack. 

“I’m low on reserves. I can allow you to continue seeing them if you wish, but I will not have enough magic to be able to stop them attacking you or challenging you.” Stiles explained robotically, Gerard looked ready to stomp his foot in frustration before he glanced around what appeared to be the empty room, he knew it wasn’t though and the thought that any of them could attack him and he wouldn’t even be able to see it coming made him nervous. 

“Fine. We’re leaving. Stop them from following us.” Gerard ordered and Stiles nodded in agreement, following Gerard as he moved towards the door. 

Derek watched in horror, trying to get to Stiles or Gerard, failing to get to either of them, no matter how hard any of them tried. Sam and Noah were still on the ground, tears streaming down Sam’s cheeks as Melissa and Noah tried to comfort him, the rest of the pack were howling, screaming, shouting, desperate to get to Stiles, to stop Gerard. Stiles continued walking after Gerard without a backwards glance and, a moment later, they left the house, shutting the door behind them with a resounding thud. 

“Monster, I want you to burn the place to the ground, keep them inside.” Gerard ordered and Stiles crinkled his forehead slightly, there was a slight spark of flame inside the door and then it vanished in the same instant. 

“I don’t have the magic to do both. I can’t stop them from escaping if I set it on fire.” Stiles replied. 

“Fine. Fine. Make sure they can’t use the tracker to find us, make sure they can’t use your scent to find us and just get in the fucking car.” Gerard said, climbing into Stiles’ jeep and gunning the engine, tearing out of the drive with Stiles sat silently in the passenger seat. 

“Where did you hide the ring?” Lydia said as soon as Gerard had left, Derek felt Stiles’ magic release him and he fell to his knees, trying to drain some of the pain from Sam while Noah healed nearby.

“I gave it to Peter,” He paused, “Stiles must have thought it was important that Gerard didn’t get the ring, but why? He already has control over him again, Stiles is already following his orders, what difference would it make having the ring?”

“Before you guys arrived back, he issued Stiles with orders.” Danny said, “He said that the Alpha wouldn’t be allowed to speak or move, that was more important than anything else, maybe it has something to do with it? I mean, he said the rest of you weren’t allowed to challenge him or get to him, but Derek wasn’t allowed to speak or move.” 

“Okay, meaning what? Gerard thought Derek had the ring and he ordered Stiles to make sure he couldn’t speak or move, what does that mean?” Jackson asked. 

“Maybe Gerard saw Derek as more of a threat? Because he’s the Alpha?” Isaac suggested. 

“Or maybe because he had the ring!” Erica said suddenly. 

“What?” Peter said in confusion. 

“Okay, listen to me for a sec, it’s only a theory, but, what if, Derek has the ring, so, he still has some control over Stiles, he could still be considered his master in some way or something? If Derek had been able to speak, he could have ordered Stiles to ignore Gerard or whatever, until Gerard has the ring, Derek can still order Stiles.” Erica said excitedly.

“I mean, I guess, it makes sense.” Lydia agreed. “Stiles’ magic is bound to the ring, maybe Gerard is his original master, but, with the ring, Kate could order him around, and then Derek took ownership and so could he. Why else would Gerard be desperate to get the ring back otherwise?” 

“Maybe he just doesn’t want Derek to have it. He is a control freak after all.” Boyd suggested. 

“Yeah, but what if it isn’t?” Erica insisted. 

“Well the only way to find out is to test it.” Melissa said, “So, we go after them, we track them down, Derek orders Stiles to do something and, if he does it, then we know Derek can still order Stiles and that is why Gerard needs the ring.” 

“Alright, to do that we need the ring.” Derek said and Peter looked at him for a moment before pulling the ring from his pocket. 

“The last person Gerard would ever think you would give it to.” Peter remarked.

“Thank you.” Derek said, taking the ring from him, “He was wrong about that though. I trust you Peter, you’re family.”

“I know.” Peter replied. 

“Melissa, could you and Chris take Sam to the hospital, he’ll need that leg seeing to?” Derek said. 

“I want to be there when we take Gerard down. I want to kill him myself, I mean, I guess I can’t actually be the one to kill him, because if we challenge him and I kill him, I don’t want to be Stiles’ master, Derek has to kill him so he becomes Stiles’ only master, but I want to be there when he dies.” Chris replied. 

“Fine, Melissa, Peter?” 

“Yeah, sure thing.” Melissa said glancing at Peter who looked like he really wanted to be by Derek’s side but, glancing at Sam, nodded solemnly. 

“I’ll look after him.” Peter said seriously.

“Good, Sam, Melissa and Peter will take you to get your leg checked out and, by the time you get home, we’ll have Stiles back and he’ll be good as new, okay?” Derek said, wiping away a few of the remaining tears on Sam’s cheeks. 

“You promise?” Sam muttered tearfully. 

“I promise I will do everything I can to get him back.” Derek said, turning on his heel and heading out of the door, desperate to find Gerard and Stiles, horrified that the last thing he had said to Stiles was an order, that he had forced Stiles to do something that he didn’t want to do and now Stiles was with Gerard, trapped inside his own mind, suffering electrical shocks to his brain, in agony. He felt sick. 

“I’ll stay here with Noah while he heals.” Lydia said, glancing across at Derek, “Have you thought about how to do this? Even if you find them, how are you going to make sure Gerard doesn’t do the exact same thing again? Like, order Stiles to make sure you can’t speak or order him?” 

“I’ll come up with something, but, maybe it’s best that you all stay here, I mean, if we’re wrong, if I can’t order Stiles, if Gerard gets the ring, it won’t end well.” Derek suggested.

“We’ve done this before, we’ve gone after Stiles and his master, knowing it could result in our deaths, knowing it could end everything for all of us, but Stiles was worth the risk then and he’s still worth the risk now. If we die then we die, but leaving Stiles stuck like that, in that state, with Gerard, it cannot be allowed, and we will not abandon him.” Scott said solemnly, “I don’t know about the rest of you, and I don’t expect all of you to risk your lives for him, but, he’s my best friend, my brother, he needs my help and I will do everything I can to help him, even if that means dying.” 

“Scott.” Melissa whimpered, sounding terrified at something happening to her son, “I’ll come with you, just, let me take Sam to the hospital and then I’ll come with you.” 

“No mom, if the worst happens, Sam will need people around who love him, care for him.” 

“I need all of you, I need Derek and Stiles, so you can’t die, because Derek wouldn’t let you die without him dying first and I need them alive, so, you’re all going to live, okay?” Sam said. 

“Okay kid, we’re all going to live, we’re all going to be fine. In fact, I think I have a plan.” Derek smiled, “Melissa, you and Peter take Sam to the hospital, Lydia can stay here with Noah and the rest of us, we’re going to track Gerard and Stiles and we’re going to get him back.”

“Tell me there is more of a plan than that?” Cora muttered sarcastically and Derek grinned at her. 

“I’ve got a couple of ideas up my sleeve.” He replied. 

There were several solemn hugs goodbye, it was obvious that even though they all wanted to believe Derek’s words, they all knew there was more than a chance this would be the last time they would all be together as there was no way for Stiles to help them this time, there would be no hesitation in his actions, no way to delay orders by even a fraction of a second. 

“Look after him.” Derek said when Peter hugged him tightly. 

“I’ll do everything I can.” Peter replied, “Be careful nephew, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I promise I’ll be as careful as I can be. If I don’t make it back…I trust you, I know you’ll look after Sam, but, just, I trust you Peter, I trust you to raise him, look after him, be family to him.” Derek said.

“Of course I will Derek, I promise you, I will look after him.” Peter said solemnly. “If anything happens, if you and Stiles don’t make it back, I swear to you, with everything I have, Sam will be safe with me.” 

“Thank you.” Derek said, resting his hand on Peter’s shoulder for a moment before looking around at the rest of the pack. “Are we ready?” He asked, everyone nodded, having said their own goodbyes. 

They were all nervous as they set out of the house, there was every chance that Gerard could be waiting for them, prepared to attack them, prepared to use Stiles to attack them. They could only hope that Stiles was still so low on magic that he wouldn’t be able to use it against them. 

Derek didn’t feel comfortable splitting in to smaller groups to search the town, it gave Gerard too many opportunities to attack them, thankfully the pack all agreed with him and they stuck together, taking their time to search each street for any sign of Stiles or Gerard before moving on to the next one. 

“This is pointless.” Erica said a few hours later when they had found no sign of them, “Gerard ordered Stiles to hide them from us, we can’t use the tracker to find him, or his scent, or anything. We’re not going to be able to find them until he wants us to. We should go home, come up with a plan, be ready for them when they decide to attack.” 

“But we have no idea how long that could be, Gerard won’t come for us until Stiles is back at full power and that could result in Derek’s plan not working. It’s better we keep looking on the off chance we find them.” Chris replied. 

“Yeah but we could also walk straight in to a trap. I’m with Erica, it makes sense that we prepare, set a trap for them.” Allison said, “Dad, I know you want to go after him, but, I think it’d be better if we challenged him on our terms, make him come to us, rather than spending all our time out here searching for them and, on the off chance that we find them, it’ll be because Gerard wants us to find them.” She explained, the entire pack looked towards her and then Derek, who sighed heavily before nodding. 

“Allison is right. This isn’t the smart way to do things. We need to be smart about this, make sure that when Gerard comes to us, we’re prepared for him.” Derek agreed. “We should head home, plan, prepare. Gerard will come. We need to be ready for him when he does.”

“And Stiles?” Jackson said and Scott glared at him, “What? We’re all thinking it. That wasn’t Stiles back there…”

“He’s still in there, he’s just trapped!” Scott argued. 

“When he was with Kate, he told Chris to take the shot, when he knew Gerard was coming, he begged Derek to kill him, that he couldn’t go back to that. That wasn’t the Stiles we know, he might be trapped in there, but he can’t even try and fight his orders now, he’s a prisoner but he’s also the enemy. When they come, we need to be prepared to do the worst if we can’t take Gerard out.” Jackson said solemnly. 

“We aren’t going to kill Stiles!” Isaac shouted. 

“It’s not like I want to do it.” Jackson replied, “I just, you saw him, you saw what he was like, how desperate he was to avoid going back to that, we’ve been here before, Derek said he’d end things, one way or another, we’re in the same boat again now, the only difference is, Stiles can’t say it himself.” 

“You’re right.” Derek said and Jackson looked at him flabbergasted, “You are. Stiles doesn’t want this, and, if I can’t free him, if I can’t stop Gerard, then I’ll save Stiles, the only way I can.” Scott opened his mouth to protest, “Scott, I know how much he means to you, I know how much he means to all of you, I know how much he means to me, I know that killing him will destroy me, that even the thought of a world without him in it makes me feel like falling apart, but, I also know that Stiles doesn’t want this, he doesn’t want to be a prisoner, doesn’t want to be locked away in his own mind, in agony, doing things that our Stiles would never want to happen, feeling responsible for bad things happening even though it is completely out of his control. If I have to put him out of his misery, if I have to end it, then I’ll be as merciful as I can and make it painless and quick.” Derek said, his fingers trembling at the very thought of killing Stiles, his stomach churning uncomfortably. 

“We should head back to the house, make a plan, we’re going to have to outthink Gerard if there’s any chance of us rescuing Stiles.” Boyd said and they all nodded, making their way back to the vehicles they had abandoned earlier when they started their search. 

Lydia and Noah both looked hopefully when they arrived back at the house and Jackson shook his head sadly. 

“Well, we all knew Gerard would have taken precautions, it was a long shot.” Lydia said briskly, “In the meantime, I’ve been thinking, and I have a plan.”

“Okay, let’s hear it.” Derek said. 

“Alright, the issue will be making sure Derek can speak in front of Stiles. No doubt Gerard will have ordered Stiles to make sure that Derek can’t speak or move, basically rendering him helpless, then Gerard takes the ring, gets complete control and it’s game over for all of us.” Lydia began and they all nodded, “So the plan has to be to make sure that Stiles can hear Derek speaking but not see him, or, he can see him, but Derek can still issue an order.”

“How can he do that if he can’t speak?” Cora asked. 

“There’s a couple of different options, one, we plug in some kind of speaker, something that will mean Stiles can hear Derek’s orders even if he can’t see him, I’m not sure if it will work because Derek won’t actually be in the room, but, Kate ordered him over the walkie talkie and he obeyed so I’m hopeful. The other option would be for Derek to record orders, save them on his phone or our phones or whatever, then hit play. Even if you can’t speak, Stiles will still hear your orders and you could order him to let you speak freely.” Lydia said hopefully. 

“Nobody has said it yet, but what’s to stop Gerard from ordering Stiles not to follow your orders?” Chris said and Derek paused for a moment before grinning triumphantly. 

“He can’t do that!” He smiled, “Stiles told me himself, basically there was no point in saying, ‘don’t follow any orders’ because as soon as I ordered him to do something it cancelled out the previous order of not following orders. If Gerard orders him not to follow my orders, it doesn’t matter, because as soon as I order him to do something, Stiles still has to obey it.” He said and the pack all stared at him for a minute before grinning. 

“We can do this. We can get him back, bring him home. I know we can.” Noah said hopefully, groaning slightly as he shifted on the sofa and his still healing leg ached uncomfortably. 

“I agree. So, we set a trap.” Lydia said authoritatively, “We make Gerard come here, to us, and we make a stand. We need to set up speakers in every room and, Derek, you need to make recordings, orders that makes sure Stiles lets you speak even if Gerard tells him not to let you.” 

“Okay.” Derek agreed, pulling out his phone. 

“I’ll go grab my speakers from upstairs.” Isaac said, hurrying up the stairs and out of sight. 

By the time Melissa, Peter and Sam returned from the hospital they had got speakers set up in every room, Chris had found a microphone and set it up in the panic room downstairs and Derek had recorded himself ordering Stiles to allow him to speak, to not let Gerard hurt any of the pack, to not hurt any of them himself, to stay still, to let Derek challenge Gerard, to let any of them challenge Gerard. Danny had suggested that all of them set it as their ringtones, so, all somebody had to do was call them and Derek’s orders would be played around the room, Derek prayed it was enough, this was their only chance, they had to make it work. 

“How are you feeling kiddo?” Derek said to Sam, taking in the cast on his leg as he used his crutches to get to the nearest chair. 

“The doctors said it was a clean break.” Melissa said when Sam nodded glumly. “Sam told them he fell down the stairs, they believed him, they said it’ll heal nicely, there’s unlikely to be any complications. The doctor said he wished all the broken bones he dealt with we’re as easy as this one.” 

“That’s good news then.” Derek said, trying to sound upbeat for Sam’s sake. 

“Where’s Stiles?” Sam asked, looking to be on the verge of tears. 

“He’ll be home soon, okay? We’ve got a plan and we’re going to get him back.” Derek reassured him, resting a hand on Sam’s shoulder as Sam burst into tears, “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay, we’re going to bring him home Sam, I promise.” Derek said, hugging Sam tightly. 

“I can’t lose him.” Sam sobbed and Derek clung a little tighter.

“You’re not going to, none of us are. Stiles is going to come home, I promise.” Derek said solemnly, he had to get Stiles back, alive, for all their sakes. 

Eventually they agreed that they should go to bed, they were as prepared as they could be, and, it was unlikely that Gerard would attack tonight, Stiles needed to gain his magic back first, they had a day or two. Derek wished that it wouldn’t take that long, that Stiles could be back at full power by first thing in the morning because he wanted this over, he wanted Stiles home and Gerard defeated and, more than that, the thought of Stiles being trapped inside his own mind for a second longer made Derek seethe with rage. The sooner they ended this the better. 

The only positive Derek could think of was that it was the weekend and they had a few days before the pack had to go back to school, the thought of them all separating and making themselves easy targets made Derek’s heart race and he decided that none of them would be going anywhere alone until Stiles was home and Gerard was dead. 

They spent the entire weekend waiting, all of them were on edge, none of them willing to leave the house, in case Gerard came when they weren’t prepared. Instead they all sat around the house, picking at food even though none of them were really hungry, the thought of what Stiles was going through was enough for all of them to lose their appetites. 

They’d spent the weekend filling Danny in on everything that had happened, more in depth that his previous conversations, answering any and all questions that he asked. Derek had spent most of the weekend sticking close to Sam, the thought of anything happening to him made Derek feel sick, and right now, Sam needed all the support he could get. He clung to Derek at every possible opportunity and Derek held him back just as tightly, knowing that Sam needed him to hold it together, to be the one in control and the one confident in their plan. 

“So what are we going to do in the morning?” Melissa said on Sunday evening. “I mean, we’ve been lucky enough to take the weekend off but it’s Monday morning tomorrow and we’ve got to go back to work, the pack have to go back to school, we can’t stay holed up in the house indefinitely. We need to decide what we’re going to do.” She continued. 

“I know.” Derek said, frowning and rubbing a hand over his eyes, “I just, if we go back to normal, and we split into smaller groups, we’re easier targets. When Gerard targets us, he’s going to be looking for any opportunity to take us out. He might not be able to order Stiles to kill us, but he can order him to hurt us, or hold us still and finish the job himself. I don’t think it’s a good idea to make things any easier for him.” 

“We’re as prepared as we can be, if he attacks us here, but, if he attacks us out of the house, our chances aren’t so great.” Noah said seriously and they all looked at the ground, obviously thinking over their options. 

“I have no issues with missing a few days of school.” Scott said. 

“Your grades would.” Lydia replied and Jackson smirked. 

“I’m serious, if it’s a choice between missing a few classes or our safety, surely our safety comes first, we have to give ourselves the best chance here.” Scott said. 

“I actually agree with him.” Peter said, “We just need a good reason as to why none of us can leave the house for the foreseeable future. Maybe we’ve all got the flu?” He suggested. 

“I guess…” Derek replied slowly.

“Your legal guardians would all need to call in and confirm, obviously Scott, Stiles, Allison, Sam and Isaac won’t be an issue, but Lydia, Jackson, Erica, Boyd and Danny will all need their parents to confirm it.” Melissa said. 

“That’s ridiculous, our parents let us live here without question, surely if Derek or Peter calls and says we’ve all caught the flu, they should just take your word for it?” Erica pouted. 

“Maybe if Derek calls them, explains that we’ve all caught the flu, then they’d be willing to call the school, plus, if we say we’re all contagious, then they won’t come over here to check on us?” Lydia said and Derek shrugged. 

“I guess it’s the only plan we have.” He nodded solemnly, “Okay, I’ll call them now and explain.” He said, heading into the kitchen, wishing once again for this to be over, that Stiles would be safe in his arms instead of with Gerard, suffering through hell. 

As it happened, it was Tuesday evening before anything happened, they were all fed up, fed up of being trapped in the house, fed up of being on edge, waiting for Gerard to attack. The school had sent a bundle of homework out to keep them all busy which several of the pack had groaned about until Lydia had scolded all of them and they’d got to work. 

They were still busy doing their homework when suddenly the entire house trembled and shook around them, the floor vibrating under their feet and the glass rattling in the window frames. A moment later it stilled again and they all looked at each other with worry. 

“What was that?” Danny whispered. 

“The spell, Gerard forced Stiles to reverse the spell, so that he can see us again.” Noah muttered in horror.

“Melissa, I need you to take Sam to the panic room, keep him safe in there. Gerard is going to be coming, tonight, or maybe tomorrow if Stiles used too much energy reversing the spell, but he will be coming and we need to prepare…” Derek said seriously, hesitating, “We’re as prepared as we can be, you should all head to the panic room, I need to be here when he gets here, but, the rest of you should wait down there, out of sight.” 

“No way, I’m not hiding down there when my son is up here. I need to be here.” Noah said.

“And I need to be here too, I want to see Gerard dead, no, I need to see him dead.” Chris agreed. 

“Look, we need to be smart about this, if Gerard comes here, we can’t all be here waiting for him, we can’t let him freeze all of us, if he does, there’s no way to start the orders or to see if the microphone will work. We need to set a trap, we need to be clever, we need to outthink Gerard. We know he won’t be stupid enough to come alone, he said he had Matt and the others released from prison, that he’d kill them once they’d outlived their usefulness, we have to believe that he’ll bring them here, use them to help kill us, then kill them.” Derek said, his mind racing, trying to think of a way to beat him. 

“I think I have an idea.” Lydia said, a small smile on her lips, “It might work, if Gerard is as arrogant as I think he is.” 

“Alright, let’s hear it.” Chris said as Lydia hesitated. 

“Okay, I need to know who the most believable liar is, and I’m going to need access to whatever technical gear you have Chris.” She began, outlining her plan a step at a time and the others listened seriously. 

Gerard stared at the house in front of him with observing eyes, the house was dark, there were no signs of life, he pressed his lips into a firm line, climbing out of the vehicle and looking around. He saw Matt, James and Daniel all appearing from the surrounding treeline, their guns drawn, shrugging in Gerard’s direction. Gerard walked around to the other side of the vehicle, opening the door and staring at his passenger. 

“Get out Monster.” He ordered and Stiles slid from the car seat and stood next to Gerard, looking at the house in front of him, “You two, check the back, make sure they don’t try to sneak out that way, you, come with us, we’re going to give the pack a little hello.” 

Matt followed Gerard and Stiles towards the front door, climbing up the front steps and peering through the dark windows while Daniel and James headed around back. 

“You know, last time we were here we had a lot more fun with him.” Matt commented, nodding in Stiles’ direction, “If you really want to rile them up you should make him scream.” 

“If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it, otherwise, if you want to keep breathing, you’ll keep silent.” Gerard snarled and Matt clenched his jaw before nodding in reply. “Now, Monster, are they in there?” 

Stiles’ eyes glowed almost orange in colour for a moment before he nodded silently. 

“Good,” Gerard said, pulling out his walkie talkie, “They’re in the house somewhere. They can’t get out. Stand watch at the back door. If they try to escape, shoot them.” He said before moving to the front door, reaching out and turning the handle, surprised to find it unlocked. He motioned for Matt to go first and the man tightened his grip on his gun before heading in to the house, Gerard and Stiles following after him, Stiles’ gaze was unfocused, staring off to some point just behind Gerard’s left ear and Gerard couldn’t help but smirk with satisfaction. 

The house was silent, Gerard tried to listen but there was no sound of any heartbeats nearby, although Stiles’ was beating so loudly in his ears that Gerard doubted he’d be able to hear them even if they were stood just out of sight. He couldn’t hear anybody breathing, other than Matt and Stiles, there was no evidence that there was anybody else in the house at all. 

“Wait here.” He ordered, “Make sure they can’t escape through that door. Monster, come with me.” Gerard said and Stiles followed silently, his face blank of any emotion as his heart raced uncomfortably fast in his chest. “They’re definitely in the house?” He asked and Stiles nodded in confirmation. “Can you tell which room?” He asked, Stiles opened his mouth to reply when there was a shout from outside, the sound of a gun going off and then silence. Gerard stared at the back door in surprise, indicating Matt should go towards it, Matt shook his head violently, his gun gripped tightly in his hand. “Monster, go look.” He ordered. 

Stiles walked towards the back door, there was no hesitation or fear in his movements, he approached the back door and opened it, looking out into the darkness, there was blood, he could smell it. 

“Well? What happened?” Matt whispered. 

“There’s blood.” Stiles replied robotically. 

“Who’s blood? Where’s James? Where’s Daniel?” Matt said and Stiles stared at him blankly. 

“If they’re not there then they are dead.” Gerard replied in annoyance. “Derek!” He called loudly. “I know you can hear me. Come out now. Come out and face me like a man.”

“He’s too much of a coward, he won’t face you.” Matt muttered and Gerard glared at him until he ducked his gaze. 

“Fine. You want to play hide and seek; I want to play a different game. Monster, don’t make a sound.” Gerard said, pulling the remote from his pocket and pressing the button. Stiles fell to his knees, gripping at his head, tears filled his eyes and his features contorted in pain but he made no sound, other than breathing heavier than normal. “I can do this all day Derek, Matt says you’d prefer if I make him scream, I can do that if you really want. Personally, I like him silent, I never could be bothered with all that talking. You know, when we first took him, when we had him in that basement, along with your other betas, he was so convinced you would come for him, that you would realise he was missing, and you would come. It was almost sweet how much faith he had in you. Such a mistake really. I beat him, whipped him, electrocuted him, hell, I even shot him, and still you didn’t come. Then we got to the real fun. Your poor little human screamed until he couldn’t scream anymore, well, when he was conscious anyway. And you, you didn’t even look for him. He was aware what was happening when we put the implant in. Fair enough with the tracker he didn’t really know what was going on, could barely speak, barely breathe, he was barely alive at that point. But, by the time I got to put the implant in his brain, oh, he knew exactly what was happening at that point. I ordered him to keep still, ordered him to stay silent, ordered him not to heal until it was in place. He fought with everything he had, and it still wasn’t enough. Because he was weak, pathetic. Magic was the only reason I kept him alive. I figure it’s the only reason you keep him around too. Because you get his magic. You wouldn’t want him around otherwise, why would you?” Gerard scoffed. 

“If you really want to piss him off, you should give him a demonstration of how compliant your monster is right now.” Matt said and Gerard raised a questioning eyebrow. “May I?” Matt asked. 

“Okay, go ahead, Monster, follow his orders, so long as they don’t disagree with any of mine.” Gerard said and Matt grinned. 

“Monster, get on your knees.” Matt ordered and Stiles dropped to his knees silently. “Open your mouth.” Matt continued and Stiles opened his mouth, Gerard rolled his eyes when Matt reached forward, running a finger along the seam of Stiles’ lips. 

“I should have known you would turn this into something sexual. Didn’t you already have enough of this back at the house?” Gerard said and Matt smirked. 

“Only a couple of times, and, besides, his mouth is made for sucking cock, besides, they get annoyed when you hurt him, but, do something like this and it drives them out of their minds.” Matt replied. 

“Really?” Gerard gestured to the empty room around them, “It doesn’t seem to be having the desired effect, does it?” He snapped and Matt shrugged. 

“I don’t know, it’s definitely having the right effect on me.” He said, reaching for his belt buckle. 

“Stop it. Keep your mind on the task at hand. You can do what you want to him once this pack of mutts are dead.” Gerard ordered. 

“That’s a lie. He’s going to kill you the instant we’re all dead.” Peter said from the doorway. He tried to look as relaxed as possible, ignoring the way that Gerard and Matt both stared at him in surprise, instead looking at Stiles, Stiles who was still kneeling on the floor with his mouth open and his gaze completely unfocused, but his heart was racing so fast that Peter could barely hear anything else, the scent of his pain was overwhelming even with all the magic in the air. It might not look like it, but he knew, inside, Stiles was terrified and in pain. 

“Monster, get up, freeze him in place.” Gerard ordered and Peter felt it the instant Stiles’ magic kicked in, he only smirked at Gerard in reply, “Where are the rest of the mutts?” He said and Peter grinned wickedly. 

“You honestly think they’ve stuck around? The instant we felt the spell get reversed, we all split up, went our separate ways. The pack is gone, you’ve won.” Peter said. 

“And yet you’re still here. Why is that?” Gerard asked. 

“I want Stiles.” Peter replied and Gerard let out a surprised laugh. 

“You see, I don’t see that happening at all. Instead, I think I will kill you and make Stiles help.” Gerard said. 

“Well, I thought you might say that, but, the thing is, all I have to do is press this button on my phone and Stiles stops belonging to you, now, I don’t want to have to do that, because, honestly, you controlling him, Derek not having control, it works in my favour. I’ll let you in on a secret, I like him like this too, silent, submissive, it’s like he’s not even in there. Of course, we all know he is, but, still, you wouldn’t even be able to tell. So, I’m making a proposition, I won’t press this button and you get to keep Stiles, I’ll even help you find the rest of the pack, and, in return, I come with you, and, maybe you’ll let me have a similar kind of fun that Matt here wants?” Peter offered. 

“Let me get this straight, you’ll ‘let’ me keep control of Stiles and you’ll betray your pack, your nephew, niece, Alpha, all so you can fuck him?” Gerard asked and Peter shrugged calmly. 

“It’s not like they’d actually be surprised, they know what I’m like. Plus, I know the winning side, and I want to be on it. Getting Stiles would be an added bonus.” Peter smiled ferally. 

“And how could I know you wouldn’t challenge me the second you got the opportunity?” Gerard asked suspiciously. 

“You can order me not to, make sure Stiles ensures I can’t ever challenge you, or try and kill you, or anything else, whatever you like. So long as I get to spend some quality time alone with him.” Peter continued. “Plus, I keep hearing how he’s such a good kisser and I’m desperate to find out what I’ve been missing out on.” Peter concluded and Gerard laughed. 

“Well, firstly, Monster, break his phone.” Gerard ordered and Peter’s phone was pulled from his fingertips before he could press anything and flung to the ground with such force behind it that it shattered into a hundred pieces, “Now, since you have no leverage, I’ll be kind, grant you a final wish before I kill you. Go ahead, Monster, kiss him back.” Gerard ordered and Peter looked at him in shock. 

“Did you miss the bit about ‘alone time’?” Peter queried. 

“Don’t tell me you’re shy? It’s only a kiss, and, I am one for granting last requests.” Gerard teased. 

“Oh? So you intend to what? Let me have a kiss before you gut me?” Peter mocked and Gerard smirked. 

“Something like that, now, I’m getting bored, have your goodbye kiss, then we’ll see, maybe I’ll decide you are worth keeping alive after all.” 

“Right, sure, fine.” Peter said, looking almost nervous as he stepped into the room and towards Stiles. He licked his lips nervously, tightening his grip on the tiny chip in his hand that, thankfully, Gerard hadn’t seen, as he moved close to Stiles, listening to his heart racing, Stiles was panicking and Peter wished there was some way to reassure him without Gerard figuring out their plan. 

“What are you waiting for? It’s not hard. Do you want Matt to demonstrate?” Gerard mocked and Peter glared at him for a second before turning to face Stiles, raising his hand to cup the back of Stiles’ neck and pulling him in to a kiss. Stiles kissed him back, almost eagerly, and Peter couldn’t help the flutter of desire that ran through him, Danny hadn’t been lying, Stiles was a very good kisser, he had to stay focused on the task at hand, continuing to kiss Stiles as he clipped the device in his palm to the collar of Stiles’ shirt, making sure it touched the bare skin of his neck and then finally breaking the kiss and taking a step away. Stiles stilled instantly and Peter tried not to be disturbed at the sight, a moment ago Stiles had been kissing him hungrily and now he didn’t look even remotely phased by what had just happened, the only evidence that they had even kissed was Stiles’ slightly reddened lips. 

“It’s done.” Peter said as he took another step back towards the door and Gerard looked at him in curiosity. 

“What’s done?” He asked and Peter smirked. 

“Sorry about this Stiles.” He added just as the rest of the pack appeared in the doorway behind Peter and the doorway behind Matt, effectively trapping Matt and Gerard in the room. 

“Well, isn’t this a surprise? Peter here said you’d all run for the hills.” Gerard mocked, “Monster, I want you to hold them all still.” 

Noah pressed the button in his hand just as Gerard issued his order, he wished he didn’t have to do this, but it was the only way, he’d argued that he was going to be the one to do this, that he wouldn’t let anyone else do it. If it had to be done, and it did have to be done, then Noah was going to be the one responsible, if only because he hoped Stiles would be most likely to forgive him. 

The instant Noah pressed the button, Stiles dropped to the ground, writhing in agony, clutching at his head like it was going to explode, Gerard watched in fascination, curious as to what the hell was going on. 

“What did you do to him?” 

“Incapacitated him, just for a minute, just long enough.” Peter smirked. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο…” Derek began until his voice cut off and he glanced at Stiles who was still on the ground, even when he was in incredible pain, he was still stuck following Gerard’s orders. 

“You see, even now, he’s powerless, he’s mine, Alpha, and there is nothing you can do about it. Now, how about we discuss you giving me my ring?” Gerard taunted as Derek opened and closed his mouth helplessly.

“Danny now.” Scott shouted, Danny heard him from the safety of the panic room, where he was waiting with Sam and Melissa, and he pulled out his phone, pressing the call button, within moments Derek’s phone was ringing. 

“…allow me to speak, Stiles you will not hurt any of us, Stiles you will not let anyone else hurt us, Stiles you will not let Gerard hurt any of us, Stiles you will allow all of us to move freely, Stiles you will allow me to challenge Gerard, Stiles you will allow me to speak, Stiles you will not hurt any of us, Stiles you will not let anyone else hurt us.” Derek’s voice rang clear through the room and Derek smirked when he saw Gerard physically pale at the sound. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” Derek said instantly as Gerard roared and charged straight at him. Matt raised his gun in the direction of the pack and they all dived out of the way as there was a spray of bullets coming towards them, thankfully Stiles’ magic must have held for a fraction of a second and the majority of the bullets hit an invisible wall a few feet in front of them before falling uselessly to the floor, the remaining whistling past their heads before burying themselves in the wall behind them. 

Derek and Gerard came together in a tangle of limbs, their claws tearing in to the other, growls and snarls echoing through the room. Stiles had stilled the instant Derek challenged Gerard, instead he now lay curled up on the floor, black lines appearing on his skin, his gaze still unfocused as the lines thickened and deepened and he began to throw up the vile black sludge. 

Matt aimed his gun again, running towards Stiles as he shot at the pack, grabbing him by the elbow and hauling him to his feet, wrapping an arm around his chest and using him as a shield as he shot at the pack who were taking shelter behind the door frames. 

“You’re not getting him back Alpha.” Gerard taunted in between hits, “Even if you kill me, even if you become his sole owner, do you honestly think you’ll be able to deactivate the implant? He’s stuck like that unless you know the right phrase.” He laughed and Derek stilled in shock, he hadn’t thought about that, what if Gerard was telling the truth and Stiles really was stuck in that state? He moved just in time to avoid Gerard’s claws tearing through his throat, but it was a close call, he realised that he’d fallen for Gerard’s tactics, well, he couldn’t fall for it again. He had to kill Gerard, then he could deal with getting Stiles back to normal. He saw an opening and took it, slicing his claws deep across Gerard’s face, blood spurting across the floor, the remote for Stiles’ implant skittering out of Gerard’s pocket and sliding across the ground, both of them turning their attention to the remote. 

Derek dived for it first, his fingers just brushing the remote before Gerard landed on the ground next to him and knocked it from his fingers, they broke in to a new fight, this time both of them attempting to grab the remote before the other, neither of them quite able to get a grip on it before the other managed to knock it away again, Gerard managed to catch the button with his fingertips and Derek caught sight of Stiles tense and almost seize in the corner of the room where Matt was holding him upright, waving the gun dangerously. The black lines on Stiles’ skin were getting worse and he vomited again, Matt stepping back slightly in disgust to avoid getting it on his shoes. 

“Hurry up and kill him already!” Matt shouted across the room. Derek ignored him, instead concentrating on the fight, Gerard was bleeding from the claw marks across his face and some of his ribs were definitely broken, but Derek had an equally large claw mark down his forearm, and he’d taken a hard blow to his head that made his vision swim slightly. 

Stiles threw up again and Matt tightened his grip, screaming at Gerard to hurry up, still firing off the odd bullet in the direction of the pack but hitting none of them. Derek dodged Gerard’s latest blow and spotted an opening, he ducked under Gerard’s guard and dug his claws into the older man’s stomach, ripping it open and, when Gerard hunched over in pain, he grabbed his throat and tore that out too, watching with satisfaction as Gerard’s lifeless body dropped to the ground.

Matt stared at him in shock, his arm still wrapped around Stiles’ chest to keep him upright, the ring was glowing at the end of the chain around Derek’s neck and he reached up to touch it softly, covering it with blood as the glow vanished and the lines on Stiles’ skin vanished along with it. Derek let out a sigh of relief, clutching at his arm as he stared at Matt, his eyes flashing red dangerously. 

“Let go of him.” Derek snarled. 

“Σε προκαλώ…” Matt began. 

“Silence him.” Derek ordered and Matt fell silent, staring at Derek and the pack with the dawning realisation that he wasn’t going to get out of this alive. “Stiles, I want you to freeze him, make sure he can’t move, and then I want you to come here, out of his reach. Understood?” He said and Stiles nodded silently, freezing Matt in place and moving towards Derek. Noah reached out, grabbing Stiles’ shoulder as soon as he was within touching distance and checking him over for injuries, cupping his cheek softly and whimpering when Stiles’ gaze never met his. 

“Derek, he’s still, he’s still trapped, we have to undo it.” Noah pleaded and Derek nodded solemnly. 

“Do you know how to reverse what Gerard did to him?” He asked Matt who hesitated, “It’s the only thing keeping you alive. If you tell me, we’ll send you back to prison, if you don’t, I’ll make you beg to die.” Matt opened his mouth and no sound came out, “Stiles, I take it back, let him speak.” Stiles complied with the order and Matt reached up, rubbing his jaw slightly and shaking his head in bemusement, as if he found this whole thing funny, Derek knew he was insane.

“The way I’ve got this figured, you’re going to kill me no matter what. Might as well have the last laugh and make this as hard for you as possible.” Matt said before turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger. Derek hadn’t realised what he was about to do, he was too slow, he’d only been able to let out a cry of denial, but it wasn’t enough, Matt was dead, and any chance they had of finding out the phrase to reverse the change was gone with him. 

“No!” Noah shouted in horror, fully aware of what this meant, still cupping Stiles’ cheek who didn’t even seem to be aware of his presence, “It’s okay kid, it’s okay, we’re going to fix this, we’re going to fix it, I swear to you, it’s going to be okay.” Noah tried to reassure Stiles, but it was pointless, Stiles showed no sign of any of it making any difference to him, his heart was still racing uncomfortably fast and his gaze was still unfocused. 

“Here, let me get this off him.” Chris said, reaching out and unclipping the device that Peter had planted, “I know you can hear me Stiles, some version of you can hear me, I’m sorry we had to do that to you, I know it will have hurt, but, this device, when in contact with bare skin, sends an electrical pulse through the central nervous system, it’s kind of like the one in your brain, but, not as incapacitating, we hoped it would react with the one already implanted and cause enough of a distraction that Derek would be able to challenge Gerard, obviously it worked.” Chris explained, and, by some miracle, Stiles’ heart rate began to slow just the slightest bit. 

“Yeah, yeah, exactly.” Scott said triumphantly, hoping that by continuing to talk, Stiles would be able to hear them, “Which is why Peter said those things about betraying the pack and stuff, he wouldn’t ever betray us, and, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually want to sleep with you…”

“Danny wasn’t lying, you’re a very good kisser Stiles, I’d be more than happy to have sex with you if that’s what you wanted, but, only if you wanted. I don’t want to ever be considered in the same league as those bastards.” Peter huffed. 

“Anyway,” Scott said, staring at Peter in disgust, now really wasn’t the time to be talking about having sex with Stiles, “He’s the best liar we have, so, Lydia came up with this plan to lure them in, knowing they’d separate to make sure we didn’t sneak out the back door. Isaac, Boyd and Jackson went out through the tunnels and surprised Daniel and James, they weren’t supposed to make any noise but obviously something went wrong.” 

“Daniel must have seen my eyes.” Jackson muttered, “It doesn’t matter, the bullet only grazed me, and they weren’t using wolfsbane anyway, besides, Isaac and Boyd took them out in the next second, so, we’re all good. Then we snuck back through the tunnels to the basement and came out ready to take on Gerard and Matt as soon as Peter gave the signal.” 

“Stiles? Tell me you can hear this? That you understand what’s going on? That you’re okay, that you’re not hurt? Kid? Please? Tell me you’re in there somewhere? That you can hear me? Please, son, Stiles, just, just look at me, please?” Noah pleaded but Stiles remained motionless, staring off at something they couldn’t see. “Derek?” Noah whimpered and Derek cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

“Stiles, I…” He paused, frowning in thought, “You had to be there, Gerard said you’d made the switch before, that they’d done this to you multiple times, changing you between this you and the normal you, which means you had to be there, right?” He looked to the pack for confirmation and Lydia grinned blindingly. 

“Stiles, do you know the phrase that turns you back to normal you?” She asked and Stiles remained silent. “Maybe you have to ask? Because you’re his master he’ll answer you?” She said, her voice filled with apprehension. 

“Stiles, do you know what phrase Gerard used to deactivate the implant?” Derek queried nervously, his shoulders dropping in sheer relief when Stiles nodded, “Great, can you tell us what it is?” 

“I have orders not to.” Stiles replied tonelessly and Derek grimaced, cursing under his breath at this whole fucked up situation. 

“Stiles, I am your master, your only master, you follow my commands now, only mine, I am ordering you to tell me what the phrase is that deactivates the implant. Ignore whatever order Gerard gave you previously, he is dead. You are mine now. I command you to tell me the phrase that will revert you back to normal.” Derek ordered.

“’Scream for me my monster.’” Stiles said robotically a moment later and Derek almost pumped his fists in victory but managed to just about stop himself.

“Okay, well, um, then, I guess, scream for me my monster.” He said hopefully and Stiles stayed standing where he was, no sign of anything happening, “Why didn’t it work? Do I have to say it three times or something?” He queried, looking to the pack, hoping they would have the answers. 

“The process must be reversed. The implant must be deactivated in the same way that it is activated.” Stiles informed him and Derek stared at him before his brain caught up with what Stiles meant and his eyes darted around the room, spotting the remote near one of the overturned chairs and moving towards it. 

“Derek, no, you can’t.” Erica whispered, “You know how much it hurt him.” 

“Yes, but, if I don’t reverse the process then Stiles is stuck like this.” Derek hesitated, stepping towards Stiles, “Stiles, I need you to understand, this is going to hurt, like hell, but, it’s the only way to deactivate the implant, so, I’m sorry.” Derek said, before taking a step backwards and holding the remote tightly, “Scream for me my monster.” He said, pressing the button, Stiles collapsed to the ground, grabbing at his head and screaming like he was in absolute agony, “Scream for me my monster.” Derek repeated, feeling like his heart was shattering as the rest of the pack grimaced, tears filling their eyes, their gazes averted, as if they couldn’t bear to look at what was happening, what Stiles was being made to suffer through, “Scream for me…” Derek’s breath caught in the back of his throat and he let out a sob, “Scream for me my monster.” He repeated for the final time, pressing the button again and clenching his hands into fists as Stiles screamed in agony at his feet.


	13. Chapter 13

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Stiles finally stilled, but it felt like an eternity. He crouched down next to Stiles, reaching out with trembling fingers to touch his arm, his skin felt like ice beneath Derek’s fingertips and Derek clenched his jaw to try and hide the fact that he wanted to burst into tears. 

“Stiles?” He whispered and Stiles shifted slightly, his gaze unfocused for a moment before his eyes met Derek’s and Derek sighed in relief, “Oh thank god, are you okay?” He asked and Stiles nodded as he began shivering violently, his lips turning blue with cold, he tried to sit up and winced in pain, his shivers worsening as he tried to speak and the cold seemed to flood through him. 

“Stiles? Are you okay?” Noah said, crouching down next to Derek and flinching when his fingers brushed Stiles’ skin, “You’re freezing.” Stiles nodded through chattering teeth, he’d gone as white as a sheet and only seemed to be getting colder. 

“Come on, we need to get you warm.” Derek said, helping Stiles to his feet, “We need as many blankets as possible, Stiles, can you walk?” He asked, Stiles nodded, taking a few small steps before his legs gave out, he’d stopped shivering now and he seemed to be fighting to keep his eyes open, “Stiles, just, hang on, we’re going to get you warm, okay?” Derek said, feeling the panic flooding through him as Melissa, Danny and Sam appeared from where they’d been hiding downstairs. 

“Body heat will do a better job.” Melissa ordered, “He needs a puppy pile, Derek get him upstairs, all of you, cuddle as close as you can, skin on skin contact would be better, we need to warm him up gradually, too much too quick and it could cause his heart to fail.” Derek nodded solemnly, scooping Stiles – who was on the brink of unconsciousness – into his arms and racing up the stairs with him. Erica pulled back the sheets on Derek’s bed and Derek deposited Stiles into the middle of the bed, letting go of him long enough to pull his own shirt over his head, swiftly followed by Stiles’. He caught sight of the fresh cuts and bruises that covered his torso, no doubt Gerard had beaten him within the past few days and it made Derek want to scream with rage, he couldn’t understand how anybody could ever want to hurt Stiles. Sam stared at Stiles with wide eyes, having never seen the scars before Derek could understand why it upset the kid, but there was nothing he could do about it, Stiles needed him right now. 

“Come on, I’ll help you in.” Derek said, helping Sam put his crutches on the floor and picking him up easily, putting him back down on the other side of Stiles so that Sam would be close to him and then shuffling forwards, wrapping his arms around Stiles, holding Stiles close to him and praying it would be enough as the rest of the pack surrounded them, positioning themselves around Stiles until there was no skin left uncovered. 

Within ten minutes Stiles started shivering again which Derek took as a good sign, he held Stiles a little tighter and couldn’t help but sigh in relief when colour gradually began to return to his cheeks, and he seemed to be sleeping almost peacefully as the shivers subsided. 

“Stiles?” Noah whispered. 

“Mm?” Stiles groaned quietly, his eyes fluttering open slightly. 

“You okay?” Noah asked and Stiles nodded silently. 

“Tired.” He said before closing his eyes again. 

“Alright kid, we’ll let you sleep, but we’re here, okay? We’re right here for you.” Noah reassured him, he wasn’t sure if Stiles had heard him, considering his breathing had evened out and his heart beat finally slowed, Noah doubted if his son had heard a word he said. 

Having Stiles in his arms meant that Derek could finally relax, okay, so he was still Stiles’ master, and he wanted to do everything in his power to fix that, but, having him here, knowing that he was safe, that Gerard was dead and that, other than Derek, nobody could order Stiles to do anything he didn’t want to. He slipped in to sleep within moments and gradually, the rest of the pack followed suit. 

Stiles wasn’t sure where he was or what had happened, he was terrified, there was heat surrounding him, so much that he was sweating and he felt sick, god, he was going to be sick. He pushed blindly at whatever was pressing against him, feeling firm flesh under his fingertips and he was certain it was Matt, that he was in bed with that bastard again, he was going to throw up, his stomach twisting uncomfortably and he finally managed to extract himself from the pile of bodies surrounding him, barely getting to his feet before he threw up all over the floor, gasping for breath as his stomach continued to churn and his body tried to rid itself of whatever reserves Stiles had left, his legs gave out and he continued to retch even when there was nothing left to come up other than bile. His heart was racing, his head was pounding and he was shivering viciously, Stiles wished he was dead, he couldn’t do this again, couldn’t go through it again, he knew that Gerard had deactivated the implant, that he would no doubt activate it again before the day was out and Stiles just didn’t have the strength left in him to go through it again, he wasn’t strong enough, he began to sob in between bouts of retching. 

“Hey, hey, kid, you’re okay, you’re alright.” Noah said, sitting down next to Stiles and rubbing a reassuring hand on his back, he didn’t expect Stiles to flinch away from his touch, for Stiles to scramble towards the wall as if that would offer him protection from the threat. Noah stayed where he was, his palms raised to show he wasn’t a threat, Stiles stayed where he was, his back pressed to the wall, his heart racing so fast that Noah was scared it would give out with exertion, his eyes were wide, terrified, as if he wasn’t really seeing Noah in front of him. The rest of the pack were all still sat on the bed, watching the exchange with worried eyes, Scott went to get up, but Noah motioned for him to stay where he was, Stiles was terrified, they didn’t need to make this even worse. 

“Stiles, Stiles, it’s okay, you’re home now, you’re safe, it’s me, okay kid? It’s your dad. I’m right here. You’re safe.” Noah said, moving slowly towards Stiles who still didn’t show any kind of recognition of the man in front of him, “It’s okay, you are home Stiles, you’re home and Gerard is dead, it’s over, it’s over kiddo.” Stiles stared at him, his heart gradually beginning to slow, he blinked a few times, his mouth opening hesitantly. 

“Dad?” He whispered uncertainly and Noah nodded, blinking back the tears in his eyes.

“Hey kid, you okay?” Noah asked, moving closer still, until he was close enough to touch Stiles. 

“What happened?” Stiles said, running a hand through his hair and tugging on it slightly to try and distract him from the pounding in his skull. “Where’s…” He coughed as his orders cut him off and Stiles grimaced, feeling sick to his stomach, unable to stop the shivers running through his body. 

“I’ll tell you everything, but how about we get you cleaned up first? Get a nice hot shower? Warm clothes? Some food?” Noah said and Stiles blinked a few times before slowly nodding, flinching when Noah’s fingers brushed his arm. 

“It’s alright, it’s okay, can you stand?” Noah said and Stiles pressed his hands to the floor, using the wall to get himself to his feet slowly and then looking around the room as if he’d only just noticed the pack were all there. His gaze went to Sam instantly, he saw the cast on his leg and he froze, he did that, he did that, that was his fault. His stomach rolled again and he shut his eyes, turning away from the pack and throwing up more bile. “It’s alright son, you’re going to be okay, let’s just get to the bathroom, get you clean and warm, alright?” 

“I’m sorry, god, I’m so sorry.” Stiles sobbed as his legs trembled, barely keeping him on his feet. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Let’s get you cleaned up, then we can talk, okay?” Noah continued reassuringly and Stiles nodded, tears spilling down his cheeks as he continued to mutter apologies, heading to the bathroom. It was obvious to Noah that Stiles was in shock, as a father all he wanted to do was wrap his son in his arms and hold him tight, protect him from everything that wanted to hurt him, but he couldn’t do that, not yet. He needed to treat Stiles’ injuries, none of them looked life threatening but they could do with cleaning, he needed to keep Stiles warm, comfortable. 

They managed to get to the bathroom and Stiles almost fell into the shower, sliding to the floor, wrapping his hands around his knees, head buried in his knees as his whole body trembled and he let out heart-wrenching sobs that made Noah’s heart break. He climbed into the shower with Stiles, grabbing the shower head and slowly washing Stiles off, helping him to get clean as Stiles continued to sob, Stiles scrubbing at his skin as if it was filthy, rubbing it almost raw in places as tears ran down his cheeks and his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. 

Melissa came in to the bathroom a few minutes later with a bundle of clean clothes and the first aid kit, Stiles barely met her gaze, instead looking at the floor, his body still shaking with cold, his skin was like ice, his limbs felt sluggish and non-responsive, his head was spinning and he knew if there was anything left in his stomach he would have thrown it up already. Melissa tended to his injuries in almost silence, trying not to burst into tears herself when she brushed Stiles’ skin with her fingers and he tensed, obviously doing his best to stop himself from flinching at the action. 

“Okay.” She said ten minutes later when the last bandage had been applied to a particularly nasty cut that looked to be on the verge of infection, “We’ll need to make sure we keep that clean, otherwise you could end up with an infection, but, otherwise, we’re all done here.” She said and Stiles nodded numbly, shivering violently as Noah passed him a t-shirt and a thick jumper, Stiles couldn’t get his limbs to co-ordinate enough to get dressed and he was eternally grateful as Melissa and his dad both helped him in to the joggers that were a bit too long for him, the thick socks that warmed his toes, and then in to the t-shirt and jumper. Stiles wanted to say that he felt better now that he was clean and warm, but he was still shivering, his head still pounding and his stomach still clenching uncomfortably. 

“Alright kid, how about we get you wrapped up in some blankets, then we can talk?” Noah suggested and Stiles nodded wordlessly, following his dad down the stairs towards the living room. 

“We should go into the back room.” Derek said when they came down the stairs and Noah nodded, steering Stiles instead towards one of the other rooms that had been filled with sofas and chairs. 

Derek had headed down stairs the instant Stiles and Noah had left the bedroom, the rest of the pack hot on his heels, by the time they heard Stiles, Noah and Mellissa heading down the stairs they’d been able to take the bodies out to the treeline, Derek would bury them tomorrow but they would be okay there for the night, they’d cleaned as much of the mess as they could, but the blood and black sludge wasn’t going to go away overnight, they’d need to replace the carpet. Derek didn’t want Stiles to have to deal with any reminders right now, so, instead, he’d suggested they use the back room, thankfully Lydia, Allison, Sam and Isaac had gone in there a few minutes before hand, pulling out all the blankets they could find and piling them on the sofas while Sam instructed them as best he could from where he sat on the sofa, his leg propped up comfortably. 

Noah led Stiles to the nearest sofa and he sat down silently, huddling in on himself as Noah tucked blankets around him and he continued to shiver, Noah glanced to Derek nervously, uncertain what else he could do to help. 

“Stiles, how are you feeling?” Derek asked and Stiles glanced up at him, his gaze going through him for a moment before he focused and he tried to speak. 

“How long?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly. 

“Four days.” Derek replied and Stiles nodded in acknowledgement. 

“Okay.” He muttered, shuddering slightly with cold. 

“How much do you remember?” Scott queried. 

“Bits and pieces.” Stiles said, glancing to Sam’s leg and then shifting his gaze downward so that he didn’t have to look at any of them. 

“Well, Gerard is dead. In case you didn’t remember that bit, Derek beat him, he’s dead and you never have to worry about him, or Matt or Daniel or James again. They’re all gone.” Erica said and Stiles nodded again, as if he wasn’t really taking any of it in, Erica looked at him in worry before getting up from her seat and settling down next to him, snuggling in to his side, Stiles looked at her in surprise and she simply shrugged in reply. “You’re still cold.”

“I will be for a few days.” Stiles said quietly and Derek felt his stomach lurch. 

“Why?” Jackson asked, Stiles opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again when he couldn’t speak. 

“Stiles,” Derek frowned, “I’m your only master now. The only one that can order you. So, I want you to ignore the orders from Gerard, you are allowed to talk about him, you are free to speak about the implant, about the effects it has on you, as much as you know about the implant. I know the phrase now, both to activate and deactivate the implant, you are no longer ordered to keep silent about it or about him. Is that enough to break his orders or do you need me to say the phrases?” 

“No, that’s enough.” Stiles muttered. 

“Good, okay, so, why will you be cold for the next few days?” Derek pressed. 

“The implant turns on instantly, as soon as the phrase is said, along with the remote, then the implant is activated. Once it’s activated it uses power, and, to get that power, it draws heat from my body, the longer I’m in that…state…the more power it uses. So, when I’m like…that, I get cold, but because of the control it has, the electric shocks, my body isn’t able to display it in the same way it would normally would. When it’s deactivated, it doesn’t power off straight away, it continues to draw large amounts of power for a few days and then it drops back to dormant, taking enough to mean I’m always slightly colder than I used to be, but not to the point that I’m about to freeze to death.” Stiles explained and there was silence. 

“That’s so fucked up.” Jackson whispered and Stiles shrugged. 

“What about when you are like that? Do you remember everything that happened?” Lydia said. 

“Not really.” Stiles admitted, “I remember bits and pieces, some of it’s so vivid, other bits are fuzzy, like I’m stood on the wrong side of a window, that it’s all foggy outside and the real world is on the other side of the road, I can sort of see it and occasionally hear it, but it’s all distorted, and I can’t get out, I can’t get past the glass, no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I try to break the glass, I can’t get out…” Stiles’ voice trailed off, but only because it sounded like he was about to burst in to tears, he cleared his throat, fiddling with the blanket in his fingertips, “The rest of the time, it’s just black, I come back to awareness and I have no idea how long it’s been since I was last there, no idea what happened when I wasn’t there, just, that I was back.” 

“How can we help? Do you want a warm drink?” Peter offered and Stiles shook his head. 

“No thanks, I think I might throw up again.” Stiles replied. 

“Does it make you nauseous? The implant?” Isaac said. 

“No, not the implant.” Stiles said, “The pain in a contributing factor…”

“You’re still in pain?” Erica asked, reaching out to touch his arm and starting to drain his pain, within seconds she felt like she was going to be sick too, she’d never imagined that Stiles could be in this much pain, and this was the after effects, she couldn’t begin to even think about how much pain he’d been in when the implant was active. “God, how are you even conscious?” She muttered and Stiles shrugged. 

“There’s also the disorientation, trying to remember what happened, how long I was out of it, trying to make sense of the things that I do remember, trying to live with what I did.” He looked uncertainly at Sam, staring at the cast with guilt. 

“You didn’t do that Stiles.” Scott said solemnly, “That was him, not you, never you.” 

“I saw, I was there. I could have fought harder. I could have done something.” Stiles whispered. 

“No you couldn’t.” Noah said and Sam nodded in agreement, “Stiles, listen to me, look at me kid,” He paused when Stiles refused to lift his gaze from the blanket in front of him, “Mieczyslaw, Mischief, look at me.” Noah said and Stiles gaped at him, unable to believe what his dad had just said. 

“Mie…Mis...Myc…Mischief?” Allison muttered under her breath to Lydia who shrugged. 

“My name, I couldn’t say me real name when I was little, so it came out as Mischief.” Stiles said, “I haven’t heard it since…”

“Since the day after your mom died.” Noah replied, “Mischief, you have to believe me, what happened, that was not you. And none of us blame you. None of us think it was you. That was Gerard. It was all him.” 

“It was me. It was my magic. I was the one that broke your leg, broke Sam’s leg, I would have burned this house down to the ground with you all trapped inside if I’d had enough magic, I reversed the spell that made you invisible to Gerard. That was my magic. It was me. I was there, and I was too weak to stop myself from hurting you.” Stiles said, the pain and guilt in his voice obvious for all of them to hear. 

“That’s ridiculous Stiles.” Melissa said softly, “It wasn’t your fault and it sure as hell wasn’t because you were too weak! You have an implant in your brain! One that administers electric shocks direct to your brain if you attempt to think for yourself, never mind fight what he ordered you to do. None of this is your fault, and, look around you, we’re all alive, we’re all still breathing, whatever you were forced to do, at the end of it, we’re all still alive and we’ll get through it together, we’ll be here for you, whatever you need, whenever you need.” 

“Yeah, mom’s right Stiles, we’re all still alive, I can’t begin to imagine how it feels, to not be able to control your own body, to not know everything that had happened in the past few days, but, we’re all still here. Whatever has happened, whatever Gerard forced you to do, you will get past it, because you’ve got us, and we’ve got you and it’s going to be okay.” Scott said, moving to the other side of Stiles and snuggling in next to him, “If that means that we need to cuddle you lots until your body temperature gets back to normal, then that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” 

“And as soon as it’s deactivated properly, we’re going to take you to the hospital and get it removed, along with the tracker Kate put in.” Derek said and Stiles glanced up at him. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Stiles replied. 

“Why not?” Peter asked. 

“I’ve seen what happens when you try and take it out.” Stiles said honestly, sighing gratefully when Scott reached out to drain more of his pain, until he could almost think clearly, even if his head was still pounding. “So, now that I’m not under those orders anymore, there’s a few things I can tell you that I couldn’t before.” Stiles paused hesitantly. 

“Okay, well, if you want to tell us, that’s good, but you don’t have to.” Derek said and Stiles nodded solemnly. 

“When I was first taken, I told you about how it was a blur, how I don’t really remember much, that was all true, I didn’t realise what had happened, until my magic was already bound to the ring, and, to Gerard. The first thing he did was force me to heal him, remove the mountain ash from his system and allow him to finish the change. He turned into some kind of were-lion. He was always composed, he did a lot of bad things, but he was always calm about it, he’d explain what he was doing and why. I tried to piss him off, tried to get him to kill me, but, he wouldn’t. He’d just force me to be silent, to not speak until he told me too. I thought I could out-smart him, find the loopholes in his orders, but, as soon as he realised what I was doing he ordered me to tell him about the ways I could get around his orders, basically making sure I helped him to word his orders correctly to keep me as bound as possible.”

“What a bastard.” Jackson muttered and Stiles nodded. 

“Gerard had contacts, people that had access to weapons I’d never even imagined possible. One of them turned up at the house before they’d captured me, there was a guy with her, not a caster, just a normal human, he barely moved the entire time they were there, Gerard asked her about it, how she’d got him to be so well behaved because he wanted to do it to some of his employees. She explained about these experimental implants, about how they basically made the person a zombie, only capable of following orders issued by their master. Gerard asked about why they weren’t available to the public, she said they were having issues with the switch and with extracting the implants. That they could only keep them as zombies for a certain amount of time before their bodies shut down because of the energy drawn, if they turned them back the shock sent the majority of them into cardiac arrest, although a couple of them survived, but she had no idea why it worked on some and not on others. When they tried to extract the implants, they caused massive brain damage, and, those of them that survived, which from the sounds of things, wasn’t very many, would have been better dead, there was nothing left of them. He’d already tried on a few people, and then they captured me, and bound my magic, and I was still trying to fight them, so Gerard put the implant in, to stop me fighting at all.” Stiles explained. 

“So how come you can survive multiple changes then? If everyone else goes into shock and dies?” Isaac queried. 

“Possibly because Stiles has the ability to heal?” Lydia suggested and Stiles shrugged. 

“I guess maybe? Maybe because I can heal quicker than a normal human, I can recover from it quicker? I don’t know, but, anyway, Gerard wanted an implant for me and she provided it. She told him it would be easier if I was unconscious, but Gerard wanted me awake; he wanted me to feel it. He ordered me not to move, I could scream as much as I wanted, but I wasn’t allowed to move, and, he put the implant in. He set the phrases, and, well, the next…I lost time, a lot of it, I remember bits and pieces, but, the majority of the time, it’s blackness. Kate brought me back. From what she said, Gerard had agreed that she could go after the pack, and, having me at her side would hurt them so much more, so, I was loaned to her until the pack were destroyed. She switched me back to normal, telling him that she wanted to watch me struggle, the plan was to turn me back to that thing when I got here, so that you’d think that I wasn’t here anymore, that they’d broken me that completely, that there was no saving me. I think Gerard expected her to go straight after you, but, when we were on the way, there was an incident, she got a taste of my blood, and, well, then she had to experiment, to see if there was a way to use it as a weapon, between that and finding out all she could about my magic, I managed to keep her distracted.” Stiles said, shuddering slightly, grateful when Erica moved a little closer to warm him as much as she could. 

“So her priority changed from murdering all of us to making sure she knew everything she could about your abilities?” Boyd said. 

“Yeah, so, I dragged it out, tried to keep as much hidden from her as I could, knowing that she’d come here as soon as she had enough information. Anyway, when she was done with her experiments, I thought she’d want to come straight here, but, I think the power had gone to her head, she wanted to test me out in the field, make sure that I responded to orders how she wanted me to, and, then, well, she kept wanting more, she was out of her mind, the more she killed, the more she wanted to kill, she was insatiable, the things she made me do…anyway, eventually I managed to escape and you guys know the rest.” Stiles continued, “But, the point of this was, when I was with Gerard, he didn’t just get an implant for me, he got several, I think he wanted to show me what happened, so I could witness it, he even tried to get me to save them, but I couldn’t. I watched him turn people in to those things, I watched them die when the implant was deactivated, I watched them die when Gerard tried to remove the implant and I watched them die when Gerard put a bullet in their brain because they were brain dead, even if their hearts were still beating.”

“So you want us to leave it in? You want to keep it there? Knowing that it could be activated at any point if someone learned the right phrase and got the remote?” Chris said, Derek looked at the remote still in his hand and snapped it easily in half. 

“Now there’s no chance of them getting the remote.” He said and Chris sighed heavily. 

“Chances are the remotes aren’t linked to the individual implants; they’ll be operating on a frequency meaning that any remote also working on that frequency will work on the implant. All they would need is a remote from the people who designed the implant.” Chris said. “Also, as far as I know, most known implants, such as trackers, have the option to basically reset their factory settings, they could wipe the phrase and use their own. I can’t imagine the people who designed it didn’t think to include that particular setting. Meaning that somebody could get a remote, and somebody could find out how to wipe the settings and you could end up back like that.” 

“We wouldn’t let it happen.” Derek said, “If it’s a choice between somebody maybe finding out Stiles has the implant, finding a remote and finding a way to wipe the current phrase, or Stiles ending up being brain dead, or really dead, we have to leave it in.” 

“Maybe not.” Melissa said hesitantly, “If most people died when the implant deactivates, but Stiles didn’t, he’s survived multiple switches, which we think is because he can heal faster than a normal human, then, maybe, he’d survive it being removed too, because he could heal as it is being removed?” 

“It’s a possibility.” Peter agreed. “But the choice should be Stiles’. You can leave it in if you prefer?” 

“I don’t. I want it out. But…I also would like to be alive.” Stiles said, biting his bottom lip. 

“Stiles, I have faith in your ability to heal yourself, I think, if we did it properly, wait for the implant to completely deactivate, wait to make sure you are at full strength, then we go to the hospital, we use sterile equipment and environment, we do this properly and give you every chance to survive this. Or we leave it in. But I think you’ll be scared forever, that all it would take is for the wrong person to be at the right place at the right time and you could end us back as you were. Which, I know, isn’t something you’d ever want. But the choice is yours.” Melissa said. 

“I don’t know. I’m not sure, can I think about it? I mean, I don’t need to decide right now, do I?” Stiles said. 

“No, no, of course you don’t.” Derek said, “Besides, we should try and find out more about these implants, see if there’s any record of anyone surviving having the implant removed.” Derek said, he hoped he didn’t sound too worried, but the thought of Stiles being brain dead, or completely dead, it made him feel sick. Of course he didn’t want Stiles to have the implant in, but, the alternative…it made his heart thud unsteadily at the thought of Stiles being dead. 

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” Stiles replied, twiddling the blanket in his fingers before glancing across at Sam, “I’m not back at full power, not yet, reversing the protection spell took a bit of magic and Gerard wasn’t willing to wait until I was back to full power to attack, he thought I’d have enough magic to take care of you, especially with the hired help. But, I have enough magic that, if you want, I can heal your leg?” 

Sam grinned at him, grabbing his crutches and hopping over to where Stiles sat on the sofa, Erica shifting sideways to allow Sam to snuggle in next to Stiles. 

“That would be good, I don’t like the crutches.” Sam said and Stiles clenched his jaw, his eyes going back to the blanket on his lap, Derek could smell the guilt rolling off him in waves. 

“Okay, here, hang on.” Stiles said, reaching out and touching Sam’s arm, healing his leg within a matter of moments, Stiles lost the bit of colour he’d regained and he’d started to shiver again, looking like he was about to throw up. 

“Are you okay?” Noah asked, reaching out to touch Stiles’ leg. 

“Yeah, fine, just, a bit nauseous. Give me a second.” Stiles said, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths before he opened them and looked at the pack, “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, so long as you’re not about to be sick again?” Danny said and Stiles shook his head. 

“No, I’m…I’m okay.” He said uncertainly. 

“Thanks for fixing it.” Sam said, reaching down and rubbing his leg in fascination, “How do I take the cast off?” He asked and Melissa smiled. 

“I’ll help you with that in a little bit if you like?” She offered and Sam nodded gratefully. They all looked at Stiles who was staring at the blanket in his fingers in annoyance as he shivered slightly. 

“I think I’m going to head to bed if that’s okay?” Stiles said and they all jumped to their feet. 

“Yeah, sure, of course, you want to have a puppy pile?” Scott offered but Stiles shook his head. 

“I think, I think I just need to be alone right now.” Stiles said, getting to his feet and heading up the stairs without looking at any of them. 

They all sat in silence for a few minutes, looking worried, all wrapped up in their own thoughts, until Melissa got to her feet and offered to cut Sam’s cast off, Derek followed them in to the kitchen while the rest of the pack headed up to their own rooms. Derek felt like his heart was beating uncomfortably in his chest, knowing Stiles wasn’t feeling great, knowing that he was still recovering, that the implant was still powering down, and that he was all alone in his room, Derek felt queasy. As soon as Sam’s cast was off, he got him settled in bed, reading him a story from one of the books on the shelf, it wasn’t as good as the stories Stiles created, but, it was enough for Sam to drift off to sleep, and then Derek went to his room, changing for bed before he headed across to Stiles’ room, knocking on the door quietly and waiting for a reply. 

Derek waited for a solid minute before the door cracked open and Stiles’ face appeared, he looked pale and tired, but he also looked angry and Derek shifted uncomfortably. 

“I know you said you wanted to be alone but, I just, I thought, maybe you’d want me to be there, if you need waking up or whatever?” Derek asked. 

“No.” Stiles snapped, going to close the door in Derek’s face.

“Wait,” Derek said, holding the door open with his foot, opening his mouth to speak when Stiles cut him off. 

“What? Maybe you’d prefer to order me? I was polite in front of the pack because I don’t want to make things difficult for them, but I won’t pretend when it’s just the two of us. Unless you’re going to order me otherwise?” Stiles snarled and Derek felt the colour draining from his face. 

“Stiles, I’m so sorry…”

“Just don’t!” Stiles hissed looking furious, “You ordered me Derek! It wasn’t an accident! It wasn’t a thoughtless comment! You decided you wanted me to do something and you left me no choice in the matter! You forced me to stay here! You made sure I couldn’t follow you! You did it on purpose! The only reason Gerard even found me was because you ordered me to stay here. I could have run! I could have escaped! It’s your fault!” Stiles said, using magic to shove Derek’s foot out of the way so he could slam the door in his face. Derek stared at the shut door for a moment, certain he was going to be sick, before he clenched his jaw and opened the door, knowing he was going to be yelled at but at least hoping to keep it in Stiles’ room and not wake the whole house. 

“Stiles…” He whispered, looking at Stiles who was stood near the window, glaring at Derek angrily. 

“What the hell are you doing in here!? I want you to get out!” Stiles shouted. 

“Look, can I just…”

“No! I don’t care Derek! I don’t care about whatever you want to say! You forced me to do something I didn’t want to do! You think it really matters what you say? You act like you hate having this control over me, you act like you would never want to cause me any pain, you go on and on about how Kate was a monster, that she was the evil one, but when push came to shove, you did the exact same thing! You took away my choice. How can you possibly expect me to think that’s okay? No matter what you say, it will never be okay.” Stiles ranted, pacing across the floor, never looking at him and Derek flushed with shame. 

“You’re right. Completely. One hundred percent. You are right Stiles.” He agreed, Stiles stilled in his steps, looking at Derek in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Derek to recognise how wrong his actions had been. 

“What?” Stiles whispered in confusion. 

“You’re right.” Derek repeated, “I thought I was doing the right thing, protecting you from Gerard, because the thought of you ever being in any danger again terrified me, I thought I was doing the right thing, because you never think of yourself, you constantly put yourself in danger, you constantly put yourself last, like you’re an afterthought, and, god, you were talking about leading him away, giving us a chance to run, and you were begging me to kill you, so that you wouldn’t have to go back to that. I know what I did was wrong. Forcing you to obey my orders. God, you have no idea how much I know it was wrong. You’re right, it’s my fault you ended up like that, back with Gerard, I was so busy trying to protect you that I made you vulnerable instead, and I’m sorry. But I didn’t know what to do, I was terrified, I was so scared Stiles, and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I know it makes no difference and I don’t expect you to forgive me. There’s no defence against it. I could give you a million reasons why I did it, because the thought of losing you makes me feel sick, because the idea that you would sacrifice yourself to save us makes my heart thud out of rhythm, because the image of you ending back with Gerard, being bound to him, I couldn’t bear it, I couldn’t bear the thought of you being back in that position. But it still doesn’t excuse it, and, I truly am sorry.” Derek said, Stiles gaped at him and Derek didn’t know what to do or say, he took a step backwards towards the door, “I’ll leave you alone now, I, um, I’ll try and stay out of your way as much as possible.” 

“Wait.” Stiles said as Derek rested his hand on the doorknob, he risked a glance backwards and saw Stiles standing in the middle of the room, biting his lower lip uncertainly. “You were scared? For me?” 

“Of course I was Stiles.” Derek said honestly. 

“But…” Stiles paused, looking befuddled, “You don’t get scared.” 

“What?” Derek asked in confusion, letting out a laugh at how ridiculous that statement sounded. 

“You don’t get scared. You’re always in control. I’ve never seen you’d scared.” Stiles explained and Derek shook his head in disbelief. 

“Are you kidding me?” Derek said, “I’m constantly scared, all the time. I’m scared of letting you all down, making decisions that get you all killed, I’m scared of losing any of you, of losing all of you, of being powerless and helpless and making the wrong move, the thought of any of you getting hurt, being responsible for you and the pack, that absolutely terrifies me. I try so hard to make sure that I listen to all your opinions but it’s always my decision at the end of the day, my choice to make, and what if the choice I make gets you killed? Of course I’m terrified. Pretty much constantly. Because I know how empty my life feels when you aren’t around, I know how it feels to be without a pack, to be alone, and I never want that to happen again.” Derek rambled. 

“I didn’t know that.” Stiles said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and staring at Derek with wide eyes. “I didn’t know you get scared, I thought you were unscareable.” 

“That’s not a word.” Derek muttered quietly and Stiles grinned fondly. 

“But you still know what it means.” He said and Derek nodded, taking a hesitant step towards the bed. 

“It doesn’t mean it’s true. I’m usually terrified at least once a day, even if you don’t see it. I guess, the others know, but they can smell it, and hear my heart racing, I guess you don’t see it, but they know. You must be the only person who doesn’t realise I’m always scared in one way or another.” Derek replied. 

“It’s weird.” Stiles said, “Knowing that you get scared too. I always figured that you guys never get scared, you especially, being Alpha and all that. I figured I was so pathetic next to you, because I’m constantly scared, the thought that Erica and Boyd and Sam look to me as some kind of second Alpha, it makes me feel like my lungs have collapsed and I can’t get enough air.” 

“Try having the entire pack look at you that way, it’s terrifying.” Derek said and Stiles hummed in response, obviously trying to process this new information. “Stiles, I don’t deserve your forgiveness, I know that, but it doesn’t change the fact that I truly am sorry for what I did. The only defence I have is that I was so scared that I’d lose you, that if I let you come with us, Gerard would get control over you again…”

“And that I’d kill the pack.” Stiles concluded. 

“Honestly, no.” Derek said and Stiles stared at him, his brow wrinkled in confusion, “That thought didn’t even come in to it, of course I wouldn’t want you to kill the pack, the thought of losing any of them makes me sick, but, no, all I could think was that I didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t want to see you terrified and in pain and knowing that I couldn’t help, that I wouldn’t be able to help you. You matter so much, to me, to all of us. If anything happened to you, we’d all fall apart.” Derek said honestly. 

“Okay.” Stiles said seriously, staring at the floor, opening and closing his mouth a few times, evidently searching for the right words before he turned to look at Derek, “Okay, I will forgive you. On one condition.” 

“Anything.” Derek replied desperately. 

“You never, and I mean never, force me to do something like that again. If it’s an accident, ordering me without thinking about it, like you did when you found out Gerard was back, I’ll forgive you for that, there won’t be an issue with it, we all make mistakes. But, I swear to you, if you ever, ever, force me to do something that I don’t choose to do, if you order me to do what you want, even if it’s not what I want, if you use this shitty ‘being bound’ thing to control me again, I will never forgive you. The only way you’ll see or hear me is if you order me to be there and to speak, otherwise I will stay as far away from you as I possibly can. I don’t care how scared you are. I don’t care how dangerous you think it is for me. You do not make choices for me. Understood?” Stiles said dangerously. 

“Yes, yes, of course, I promise Stiles, I promise you, I will never, ever, do it again, I swear.” Derek said honestly, unable to believe that Stiles would be so forgiving, so willing to give him another chance, he had to make sure he never fucked it up again. 

“Good, okay, so, we’re okay then. And,” He paused, “I didn’t mean what I said earlier, it wasn’t your fault. He was smart. If you hadn’t ordered me to stay in the house, he would have picked another time, another place. It would have happened eventually, but you were smarter, and, you managed to bring me back, so, thank you.” Stiles said.

“You shouldn’t be thanking me Stiles. I let you down.” Derek replied quietly, “But I won’t ever do it again.” 

“Okay, well, we’re both sorry, and we’re both glad I’m back to this version of me instead of implant me. So, we’re okay.” Derek felt his legs almost shake with relief, “But, I still meant what I said earlier, I want some time by myself, so…” 

“Right, yeah, sure.” Derek said, moving towards the door, “I’ll leave you to it then,” He paused, “Stiles, I, um, I know it sounds kind of pointless, but, I want you to know, that, I’m here for you, if, you need to talk about anything, I’m here.” He added. 

“What do you think I need to talk about?” Stiles said quietly, looking uncertain. 

“Nothing, nothing, I wasn’t meaning anything specific or anything, I just, I want you to know that I’m here for you, not as your ‘master’ or your ‘alpha’ or anything, just, as a friend, if you want me.” Derek rambled nervously. 

“I’d, um, thanks Der.” Stiles replied, at a loss for words. He hesitated, opening his mouth a few times, running a hand over his face before he looked at Derek uncertainly and then back at the floor, “How much did you hear? I mean, when Gerard and Matt were talking, before Peter turned up? Could you hear what they were saying?” He looked almost guilty.

“I heard some of it yeah.” Derek answered honestly. 

“How much?” Stiles asked, “I mean, did you hear…when Matt…he said I was ‘compliant’?” Stiles stammered out, grimacing at the word. 

“Yeah,” Derek replied, trying not to think about how angry he’d felt in that moment, “Yeah, I heard what he said, what he was planning on doing, what he said he’d done.” Stiles nodded in defeat, tears suddenly trickling down his cheeks, Derek moved closer, sitting on the end of the bed next to Stiles. 

“I…I don’t remember most of it.” Stiles admitted, “I think that’s worse. I know, I know he did some things, I remember…I saw some...Kate always kept them under control, never let them go too far, because she wanted…but Gerard never cared what they did, I don’t know if it went any further…it’s just black…I don’t know…I’m not sure…I don’t…I’m not sure if I’m still a virgin or not.” Stiles said, his voice cracking as he continued to stare at the floor and tears rolled down his cheeks. Derek felt an overwhelming rage rush through him, god, he wanted to go back down there and rip Matt apart piece by piece, but, he couldn’t, instead he had to stay here, he had to be here for Stiles. 

“Do you think…um, does it feel like…” Derek said quietly and Stiles shook his head. 

“I don’t think so, I’m not, erm, I don’t feel sore or anything, so I want to think not, but...I don’t know. It’s just, black. But what if I’m not? What if that was my first time and I don’t even remember it? Why would I want to remember it? And, what if it did happen? What if he didn’t use protection? What if I caught something? I just, I feel sick, I feel dirty, like I can’t get clean, no matter how hard I try, I can still feel his hands on me…I can’t do this, I can’t keep doing this, I hate it, I hate having magic when I can’t even use it to stop people like him, I hate this stupid fucking implant and I just want it to be over, I want it all to be over.” Stiles sobbed and Derek reached across, pulling Stiles into his side and letting Stiles cry into his chest, rubbing his hand up and down Stiles’ arm in as much reassurance as he could. 

“I’m sorry Stiles, I’m so fucking sorry this happened.” Derek muttered quietly, resting his chin on the top of Stiles’ head, “I promise, I won’t ever let it happen again, okay? We’ll find a way to get the implant out, we’ll find a way to break the bindings, I promise.” Stiles continued to cry into his chest and Derek clung a little tighter, holding him as tight as he could, trying to offer Stiles whatever reassurance he could. 

“Thanks.” Stiles muttered what must have been an hour later, wiping at his cheeks with the back of his hand, his tears seeming to have finally dried up, “Thanks for listening.” 

“It’s no problem.” Derek replied, “Stiles, I understand why you’re scared, I get it. In the same situation, I would be freaking out right now. I also know that you probably want to forget all about it, push it to the back of your mind and pretend it didn’t happen, because I know you and I know how you react, but, maybe, maybe we should go to the doctors, and, get you checked? You don’t have to if you don’t want to? But if it’ll help to put your mind at ease?” Derek offered and Stiles looked up at him, pulling away slightly as he did so. 

“Would you come with me?” Stiles asked and Derek nodded instantly, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. 

“Of course I will. If you want me to, if you’d prefer your dad…”

“No, no, I don’t want him to know, I don’t want any of them to know.” Stiles said desperately and Derek grimaced slightly.

“Stiles…” He started.

“No. Just, not yet, not until I know, I mean, I could be just freaking out over nothing, and then I freak all them out over nothing. It doesn’t make sense to upset them…”

“It doesn’t make sense for you to be upset and them not know that they need to support you.” Derek advised. 

“Please.” Stiles whimpered, “Please, I can’t, I don’t want my dad to know. I don’t want any of them to know. I don’t want to look at them and see them pitying me.” 

“Nobody is going to pity you Stiles. Look how strong you are. Look what you’ve been through and you’re still standing, still fighting. Nobody would ever look at you with pity. You’re amazing.” Derek said seriously, “But,” He interrupted when Stiles opened his mouth to speak, “If you really don’t want me to tell them, I won’t. I think you should. But, I won’t tell them and I won’t make you tell them either. It’ll be just between the two of us, until you’re ready.” He concluded and Stiles looked at him gratefully. 

“Thank you.” Stiles said. 

“It’s okay.” Derek paused, letting his arm slip from Stiles’ shoulder, “If you’d like, I can stay? And we can talk? Or sleep? Or whatever you want? I don’t have to, I can go back to my own room, give you some space, whatever you want?” Derek offered and Stiles paused, obviously indecisive. 

“Stay, can you stay, please?” He muttered quietly and Derek nodded. 

“Sure, of course I will.” Derek replied, shifting slightly, “Same as usual then?” He smiled fondly, trying to break some of the atmosphere in the room, instead Stiles grinned at him and nodded, standing up and moving to the window, rubbing his hands over his face to try and remove the evidence of his tears. 

“Thanks, you know, for listening.” Stiles mumbled with his back to Derek as he pulled off his shirt and threw on a new long sleeve t-shirt, Derek shrugged, trying not to let his gaze linger for too long on Stiles’ broad shoulders or narrow hips, knowing Stiles would instead think he was staring at his scars, at the more recent injuries he had suffered at Gerard’s hands, instead Derek concentrated on pulling his own shirt off and climbing in to bed, waiting for Stiles to finish getting changed and get in the bed next to him. 

Stiles lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, trying not to shiver, he lasted all of thirty seconds before Derek let out a sigh and pulled Stiles into his side, cuddling him until Stiles snuggled closer and drifted into an uneasy sleep. 

Derek tried his best to sleep, but all he could think about was Matt, about what he’d done to Stiles, about how helpless and terrified Stiles must have felt in that moment, how scared he still was, and it was all because of the implant. Stiles might have said he hated his magic but they both knew that wasn’t true, yes, Stiles had been forced to do a lot of bad things, but, the good things he could do when given the chance, that far outweighed any bad he’d been made to do. No, the issue to Derek was the implant, yes, of course the bindings still weighed heavily on his mind, but the implant was a bigger concern for him right now and he had to find a way to make sure it could never be activated again. 

He must have drifted off in the early hours, waking only when Stiles disturbed him with his nightmare. He held Stiles for a moment, hoping that he’d be able to pick up on Derek’s presence and sleep peacefully but it wasn’t to be, instead he started whimpering in his sleep, sweat forming on his brow as he started to thrash in the sheets. 

“Stiles! Stiles, wake up.” Derek ordered, the change was instantaneous, Stiles sat upright, staring around with unfocused eyes for a second before he realised where he was and what was happening. 

“Sorry.” He mumbled apologetically. 

“It’s fine, are you okay?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded, glancing around before picking up the nearest book and wrapping a blanket around himself. 

“I’m going to read for a bit, you should go back to sleep.” Stiles replied, already resting the book on his lap, Derek sighed, throwing his arm across Stiles’ lap and making himself comfortable before he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. 

When he woke up the next morning Stiles was gone, the room empty, he looked around in panic, throwing himself out of the bed and running to the door, he heard Sam laughing brightly and he raced across to his open door, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw Sam and Stiles both lay on Sam’s bed, buried under the covers, a wolf running around the ceiling, tripping over it’s own feet and face planting in to a bush before jumping back to it’s feet. 

“Hey, I’m just showing Sam what he’ll be like as a pup, when the change hits him.” Stiles teased. 

“I will not.” Sam laughed, “Tell him Derek, I won’t be clumsy.” 

“Not a chance.” Derek grinned, lying down on the other side of Sam and looking up at the ceiling, “We wolves are always graceful, we have predators in us, we are stealthy, fierce, we would never do something as silly as fall over our own feet.” He said fondly and Stiles laughed. 

“Excuse me, but I seem to remember Scott falling over a lot when he first turned.” 

“Yeah, but that’s Scott.” Derek said dismissively, “And, really, if anyone would trip over their own feet, it would be you. Actually, I’m pretty sure it was you. On multiple occasions. I’m pretty sure all you’ve done is create a wolf version of yourself.” He teased and Sam laughed happily, grinning at Stiles who looked at Derek in mock offence.

“I’ll have you know, that was an act, I was totally pretending to fall over all the time.” Stiles lied badly and Derek smirked. 

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow, “And why on earth would you do that?” 

“To, um, to, well, I wanted my enemies to underestimate me, which they did, a lot.” Stiles said and Derek and Sam both laughed. 

“Very true. You have definitely been underestimated.” Derek said, glancing at the clock, “Right kiddo, time for you to get ready for school.” 

“Awww, Derek, I don’t want to go to school.” Sam whined. 

“I was talking to Stiles.” Derek deadpanned and Stiles gaped at him for a moment before Derek smirked and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“I forgot you have the ability to joke. Hilarious.” He said sarcastically. 

“I am, aren’t I?” Derek replied, “Anyway, come on, we agreed you could stay off school until we got Stiles back, he’s home now, so, you need to go back to school.” He said and Sam rolled his eyes before throwing off the covers and climbing out of bed. 

Stiles headed back to his own room once Sam had gone to the bathroom, he threw on an extra jumper, unable to stop the shiver that ran down his spine. Derek knocked on the door a moment later and Stiles opened it, looking at him in confusion. 

“I called the doctors and made you an appointment for later this morning, is that ok?” Derek said and Stiles nodded, sighing sadly as he did so. 

“Yeah, yeah, I guess, it’s the best thing, right? Just getting checked out?” Stiles replied. 

“Definitely. I’m going to make breakfast if you want some?” He offered and Stiles grabbed another jacket, pulling it on and following after Derek. 

The rest of the pack agreed to go back to school, telling the teachers that Stiles wasn’t quite recovered from the flu and so he needed to stay home still. Stiles was grateful, he was already cold enough, he really didn’t want to go back and sit in the school where it wasn’t that warm most of the time anyway, or, he wasn’t. He was sure he didn’t used to think the school was cold, but, since his return, he’d definitely noticed the difference. 

It wasn’t long before the house was practically empty, only Stiles, Peter and Derek left, Derek had vanished to his office a few minutes ago, saying that he needed to make a couple of calls but he’d be done in half an hour and then they could go to the doctors together if Stiles wanted him there, Stiles had nodded gratefully, he was more than a little terrified, so scared in fact that he could barely eat. He knew that it made no difference really, whatever had happened had already happened and there was nothing he could do to change it, but, still, knowing for definite what had happened made Stiles nauseous, what if it was the worst case scenario? 

“You need to eat.” Peter said and Stiles broke from his thoughts, surprised to see Peter stood in the kitchen doorway and looking at Stiles’ plate that was still full from breakfast. 

“I’m not sure I’m hungry.” Stiles replied just as his stomach grumbled and Peter raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Okay, I am, but I feel a bit sick.”

“Maybe because you are hungry?” Peter suggested, moving forwards and sitting at the chair opposite Stiles, looking almost uncertain for a moment before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, “Look, I, erm, I wanted to talk to you about something actually, it’s probably a good thing I’ve got you by yourself.” He began. 

“Shoot.” Stiles said, pushing the still full plate away from him and leaning back in his chair too, evaluating Peter seriously, reaching out and grabbing the mug of coffee, food might be making him nauseous at the moment, but he could always manage coffee.

“Well, it’s about yesterday.” Peter said, sounding uncomfortable, “I don’t know how much you remember of it?” 

“I’m not sure? I think most of it, but it all goes a bit fuzzy when Gerard and Derek started fighting and I don’t remember anything else until I woke up in Derek’s bed.” Stiles explained. 

“Right, so, um, you remember what I said to Gerard? About betraying the pack?” Peter asked. 

“Sort of.” Stiles replied, “Not all of it, but enough to get the gist of what you were saying. I know you were lying though. Obviously because then the pack came and everything, but, also, because I know you. I know how much you love this pack. You’d never betray them for power.” Stiles shrugged, taking a swig of coffee. 

“Yes, I’m glad you realised that.” Peter said quietly, “But, I also, I feel, I want to apologise to you. I don’t know if you remember or not, but I kissed you.” 

“You did?” Stiles said in surprise. “Why?” 

“You really don’t remember?” Peter asked and Stiles shook his head.

“I know you were there. I know you were saying about betraying the pack. You said you wanted to fuck me, obviously I knew you were lying. Gerard said he’d grant you a last request, then…um, the next thing I remember is pain, a lot of pain, and hearing Derek issue the challenge, and then nothing, not until I woke up in Derek’s bed, so, yeah, it’s a bit of a blank.”

“Well, you see, Chris had a device, one that needed to come into contact with bare skin, and one that we hoped would disrupt the implant, distract you, so that you couldn’t follow Gerard’s commands. I had to get close enough to plant it, because I’m the most skilled liar, so Gerard granted me a last request, before he planned to kill me, and I kissed you.” Peter explained, “I planted the device and then your dad set it off and Derek tried to issue the challenge but it didn’t work, you were still following orders. Danny called Derek’s phone and he’d changed his ringtone so that it was his voice, speaking orders, telling you to let him challenge Gerard, and it worked. You did. And then, Gerard and Derek fought, and Matt tried to hold you hostage, but, Derek won the fight and killed Gerard and as soon as Matt tried to challenge him Derek ordered you to silence him, and then he asked about the phrase, to change you back to normal, and, Matt took the opportunity to kill himself. He wanted to keep you stuck like that, figured we’d never find out how to deactivate the implant without him. One last attempt to fuck you over. We tried to keep you as calm as possible, tell you what had happened, we weren’t sure if you could hear us or not, but we tried to help. Except, Derek figured out that you would know the phrase and he ordered you to tell him and then he changed you back. And you know the rest.” Peter informed him, Stiles nodded as he tried to take it all in, he hadn’t thought he’d missed that much, but he’d obviously blacked out for longer than he thought. It made him feel even more sick, the thought that if he didn’t even remember Peter kissing him, what could Matt have done to him and he would have no idea. 

“Right.” Stiles said numbly and Peter grimaced. 

“Look, what I wanted to say was that I was sorry. I didn’t want to kiss you, not against your will anyway. I wouldn’t be opposed to kissing you, obviously, but not when it’s not something you wouldn’t want. So, I’m sorry,” Peter paused, he was obviously uncomfortable, “especially if you don’t remember it.” 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Stiles said, “I know you had to do it.” 

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t feel awful about it.” Peter replied. 

“Honestly, it’s okay Peter, and, thank you, for, telling me and for apologizing, you don’t need to. And, without you, well, without your help, I wouldn’t be back. I’d still be with him. I’d still be like that. So, yeah, it’s not great that I don’t remember, but, it’s also good to know what happened. I’m just sorry you had to go through that.” Stiles said honestly.

“Don’t worry about that, it’s not like it was any hardship for me. I mean, okay there was the risk of Gerard gutting me, but the pay off, getting you back, it was worth it. Not to mention, kissing you wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.” Peter said and Stiles let out a startled laugh. 

“Um, thanks?” Stiles said just as Derek entered the room. 

“What are you two talking about?” Derek asked and Peter shrugged. 

“Just talking about Stiles being a good kisser.” Peter said casually and Stiles almost spat out the mouthful of coffee he had.

“Erm, I didn’t realise that’s what we were talking about?” Stiles spluttered in shock. 

“No, we were talking about how I kissed you when you were under the influence of the implant, and you were apologizing for me having to kiss you and I was telling you it wasn’t an issue because you are a good kisser.” Peter continued and Stiles and Derek both gaped at him. 

“Right, um, okay, well, in that case, yeah, I guess, then yeah we were talking about that.” Stiles nodded. “But, um, I guess I should say thanks? I sort of think you’re just making it up to make me feel better, but I guess thanks.” Stiles said uncertainly. 

“I am most certainly not making it up!” Peter said looking affronted, “Derek, back me up here! You’ve kissed him, he’s a good kisser, right?” 

“Well,” Derek blushed brightly, “I mean, it wasn’t like I was completely in control of my own actions at that point in time…” 

“See.” Stiles said matter-of-factly, “Obviously you’re stretching the truth, I mean, I guess I may not be the absolute worst kisser in the world, right? But, I’m not good.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Derek said shaking his head, “I mean, you were, it was…good is an understatement. You were great.” He managed to stammer out, feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet. 

“Um…okay…thanks.” Stiles said quietly, “And, well, I can’t remember kissing you Peter so I can’t give you marks out of ten, but, Derek, I won’t judge you considering you weren’t really in control at that point.” Stiles said, grinning at him and Derek rolled his eyes fondly. 

“I already know I’m good, I don’t need marks out of ten.” Derek teased. 

“You sure about that? I mean, you might be good, but, apparently, according to your own words, I’m great. Maybe I can give you some tips.” Stiles joked, then his mouth dropped open looking horrified, “I mean, I wasn’t, that wasn’t me hitting on you! Fuck, sorry! That’s what it sounded like. It wasn’t. I meant, I didn’t mean like, ‘let’s make out so I can give you tips on how to kiss’, that came out wrong, god, I was joking, totally joking, god, sorry. Fuck I’m so sorry.” Stiles said, looking mortified. 

“Stiles, breathe, it’s fine, I knew you were joking.” Derek said, trying not to feel upset at just how horrified Stiles looked at the thought of kissing Derek. 

“Yeah, well, sorry anyway.” He paused, glancing at the clock, “Um, had we, erm, are you still okay to go to…” He said uncertainly and Derek shot Peter a look before nodding 

“Yeah, yeah, sure, of course. Shall we get going?” 

“Where are you two sneaking off to?” Peter asked. 

“Nowhere exciting.” Derek replied, “I said I’d take Stiles into town and then we’d go get some food, we’ll be back later.” He explained as Stiles headed to get his jacket.

“Sounds like a date to me.” Peter muttered quietly enough that Stiles didn’t hear him. 

“Well it’s not, so please can you not mention it again.” Derek hissed before grabbing his own jacket and following Stiles out to the cars. 

They drove to the doctors in near silence, it was obvious that both of them were nervous, worried about what would be said, Derek parked up and looked across at Stiles, reaching out to touch Stiles’ hand. 

“It’ll be okay, whatever they say, you’ll be okay.” Derek tried to reassure him, Stiles nodded but he felt numb inside, he was terrified, but he had to know for certain, the not knowing was driving him insane.

“You’ll stay with me, please?” Stiles asked and Derek nodded firmly. 

“Of course I will. I’ll be right at your side.” Derek said. 

“Okay, good, that’s good.” Stiles said, taking a steadying breath before getting out of the car and going into the doctors with Derek at his side. He felt like he was going to be sick waiting to be seen, bouncing his knee up and down until finally, his name was called. They explained haltingly about what Stiles thought had happened, it was mostly fabricated, that Stiles had been drugged and that he had woken up in a different place, so, they were just there to check that everything was okay. Stiles didn’t exactly want to be examined, but he knew it was the only way to know for sure, so he’d sat down on the examination table, taking his trousers off but leaving his boxers firmly in place. Derek waited on the other side of the curtain while the doctor examined Stiles, his heart was racing, he wished he could go back in time, rip Matt apart with his bare hands, unable to believe that they were having to do this. 

The doctor moved back to her chair as Stiles pulled his trousers back on, looking pale and shivering slightly, Derek handed him his jacket and Stiles nodded gratefully, pulling it on and snuggling into its heat. 

“So you’ve said that this incident happened less than forty-eight hours ago?” The doctor asked clinically and Stiles nodded. “Okay, well, the good news is that there’s no sign of penetrative assault.” 

“And how certain are you of that?” Stiles asked awkwardly. 

“Well, judging by the other injuries you’ve sustained, there’s signs that whoever did this didn’t have any issues with getting a little rough, which would suggest to me that if there had been any sexual intercourse, they wouldn’t have been shy about leaving damage there too. The fact that there are no signs of any penetrative intercourse, I would be happy to say I’m ninety-nine percent certain that you are still a virgin.” She explained and Derek let out a sigh of relief while Stiles looked ready to burst in to tears, “However, I’d like to run a few blood tests, we’d have the results in a matter of hours, and it will ensure that, on the very, very low chance that you were assaulted, nothing has been transmitted. I can call the contact details you’ve provided when I get the results through? I would expect everything to come back clear, but, for your peace of mind if you like?” 

“That would be, um, yeah, that would be great.” Stiles nodded, rolling up his sleeve and allowing her to draw some of his blood. “I really…thank you for…I’m very grateful for your help.” He stammered out. 

“I’m just sorry you’ve been put in this situation in the first place. I would say that you should get the police involved, but I think you’ve already reached that decision, otherwise they would have had their medical team examining you instead.” She said and Stiles nodded. 

“I don’t have any information to give them, all I can do is look after myself.” Stiles replied, “So, um, should I expect your call later today then?” 

“Yes.” She said, examining the test tube solemnly, “Usually it would take a few days, but I’ll put an urgent request on it, no point in letting you worry for longer than necessary.”

“Thank you.” Derek and Stiles both said in unison before getting up and leaving the doctors. 

“So, that’s good news then.” Derek said and Stiles grinned at him.

“Yeah, yeah it is.” He smiled, “I know it’s not certain, but I think I’m as certain as I’m going to get, so, I’ll take it.” He paused, “Do you want to go get some food? I’m suddenly starving.” 

“Definitely.” Derek replied, walking past the car and leading Stiles towards a diner a little further down the street.

Peter sat in the house reading one of the books that he hoped would find the key to freeing Stiles, he wasn’t sure where Derek and Stiles had gone to, they’d been gone most of the day and he wasn’t particularly worried, knowing that if they were together they’d be fine, but, he couldn’t help but think that they’d both seemed a bit quiet this morning and neither of them had said where they were actually going, other than in to town and maybe for some food, but, still he would have thought they’d be back by now. 

When the phone rang, he sighed heavily, shutting his book and moving towards the phone just as the front door swung open and most of the pack arrived back from school. 

“Hale residence.” He answered politely. 

“Hello, my name is Doctor Lyle, I’m calling to speak to Mr, um, Stilinski about his test results?” Doctor Lyle said. 

“Test results?” Peter asked in confusion, “Bear with me one moment, I’ll just see if he’s available.” He looked around, spotting Isaac and waving him over to the phone. “He’s here now, hang on.” Peter handed Isaac the phone while mouthing it was the doctors and to pretend to be Stiles. 

“Hello?” Isaac said uncertainly. 

“Mr Stilinski, it’s Doctor Lyle calling, I said I’d call you once I had your test results?” She explained. 

“Oh, right, yeah, my results.” Isaac said, “And, um, is it good news?” 

“Yes, well, obviously, as we discussed, the results don’t guarantee that there was no sexual intercourse…” Isaac choked on air and coughed slightly.

“Sorry, sorry, carry on.” He mumbled. 

“Right, yes, well, as I was saying, the examination showed no signs of sexual assault, the blood tests all came back negative, meaning that nothing has been transmitted. I know we can’t guarantee one hundred percent, but I think this is as certain as we are going to get. It’s good news Mr Stilinski, I know you were worried since you can’t remember what happened while you were drugged, but I hope this helps to put your mind at ease?” 

“Yes, erm, yeah, it does. Thank you Doctor Lyle.” Isaac said, hanging up the phone, the pack all looking equally distraught, it was obvious they had heard the whole conversation. “I can’t believe you did that!” Isaac hissed angrily, “We had no right to know, if Stiles wanted us to know he would have told us.” 

“I didn’t expect it to be that!” Peter argued back, falling silent when he heard Derek’s car pull up, heard Sam’s laughter as he climbed out of the car. “They’re back!”

“Oh my god. We can’t tell Stiles that we lied to his doctor and got her to tell us his private test results! He’s going to hate us!” Isaac hissed angrily. 

“We have to tell him!” Scott replied, “We can’t not tell him the results!” Before they could continue their argument, the door opened and Sam, Stiles and Derek all looked at them in surprised. 

“Hi?” Stiles said in confusion. 

“We’re so sorry...”, “We didn’t mean to…”, “Peter made me do it!”, “And god, you must have been so worried…”, “We had no idea…”, “God, Stiles, why didn’t you say something…”, “I’m sorry, I had no idea…” They all spoke in unison, shouting over each other in an attempt to be heard, Stiles looked to Derek who seemed just as clueless as to what was going on. 

“One at a time!” Derek growled and they all fell silent, looking to Peter. 

“Stiles, I…I did something very wrong.” Peter said and Stiles pursed his lips. 

“Okay.” Stiles said in bemusement. 

“Your doctor rang.” Peter blurted out and Stiles went pale, any good humour gone, he looked like he was about to be sick instead. 

“Sam, would you mind going upstairs and grabbing me that book you said you were going to show me?” Stiles asked and Sam glanced between Stiles and Peter before nodding and rushing up the stairs, as soon as he was gone from sight Stiles straightened up and looked at Peter, “I’m going from your reactions that she told you something?” 

“I got Isaac to pretend to be you, she told him that your test results came back clear, and, well, she gave us enough information to piece together why you’d been to see her.” Peter said nervously and Stiles actually had to lean against the door behind him to stop his legs from giving out. 

“They’re clear? Definitely?” He asked. 

“Yeah, yeah they are. She said it’s doesn’t mean that nothing happened, but, it’s as certain as it can be without you actually remembering.” Isaac said and Stiles almost collapsed in relief, he saw Sam coming back down the stairs and he grinned at him. 

“Come on then kid, you said you had some pictures to show me?” Stiles said, ruffling Sam’s hair as they moved towards the nearest sofa and Stiles almost collapsed into the seat while Sam climbed into his lap. 

“We really need to talk about invasion of privacy.” Derek growled and Peter nodded silently. “All of you, in the basement, now.” He whispered dangerously, making sure that Sam and Stiles didn’t hear him as the pack all nodded submissively, making their way discreetly out of the living room and down into the basement. 

“We’re really sorry.” Erica said as soon as the door was shut and Derek just shook his head in disappointment. 

“Do you not think that maybe Stiles didn’t want you to know? That if he’d wanted you to know he would have told you himself?” Derek sighed. 

“Derek, he thought he might have been raped! He might have been, and we don’t know for definite! We need to know about that!” Scott said. 

“No! You don’t. If Stiles had wanted to tell you he would have done. He didn’t want to worry any of you until he knew, one way or the other. As it stands, the doctor is almost certain that he wasn’t, and, that’s the best we’re going to get. Stiles needs to have no doubt in his mind that it didn’t happen, so, we back him up, one hundred percent. We don’t ever say that it might have happened. He needs our support, he’ll drive himself insane if he thinks there’s even the slightest possibility it did happen. So, whatever that bastard did, it never got to sex, understood?” He growled and they all nodded, “And, none of you tell Noah about this. If Stiles wants to tell him then fine. But none of you tell him, got it?” 

“Yeah, definitely.” Scott said as the rest of them nodded. 

“Good, and, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you myself. I understand how angry you all must be on Stiles’ behalf. I know how angry I am. But there’s nothing we can do, other than support him. So that’s what I need you all to do, alright?” 

“Okay, but, he’s okay? He’s not…he doesn’t…how certain was the doctor?” 

“There was no signs of anything happening like that, he hasn’t said it, but, I think Stiles is worried that Matt or Gerard might have forced him to heal any injury like that, I don’t think they would have done, I think they would have wanted him to know, to feel it, but, he can’t remember and, if he hasn’t said it, then, I’m not going to bring it up, it’ll just cause more doubt and worry and Stiles doesn’t need it.” Derek said. 

“Alright, so, Matt obviously did bad things, we all knew that anyway, but that’s all he did. It didn’t go any further. Gerard stopped him before it went any further. That’s what happened.” Lydia said solemnly and they all nodded, “Good, now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have homework to get done.” She said heading back up the stairs and into the living room, pulling out her chemistry homework and sitting at the table near to Stiles and Sam.

Gradually the pack dispersed, spreading out across the house, in the kitchen, their bedrooms, the living room or even in Derek’s case, heading in his office to try and get some work done for a couple of hours. By the time Noah and Melissa arrived home there was no sign that anything was different than normal, Stiles headed upstairs to put Sam to bed as normal and reappeared a little while later, looking nervous but also determined. 

“You okay son?” Noah asked uncertainly and Stiles nodded firmly. 

“I’ve made a decision. So, I’ve told you about the implant, about how, at times, everything was black for me.” Stiles started and they all nodded, “I remember parts, not much, but, parts. Enough for me to think that, well, you know.”

“Know what?” Noah queried.

“Right, yeah, you don’t know, the others do, but, you don’t, so, um, well, I was worried. I…I, um…Matt did certain things. And, I was worried that things may have been taken further, by him, or by James or Daniel or all of them, I don’t know, but it was definitely something that could have happened.” Stiles began.

“What!?” Noah snarled, his eyes flashing blue, “What the hell is that supposed to mean!? You think they might have raped you!?” He growled and Stiles shook his head. 

“I thought they might have done. But I went to the doctors and got checked and there’s no sign of anything happening. You don’t need to worry about that.” Stiles tried to reassure him, but Noah looked furious, clenching his jaw and holding his fists tight as his side. 

“So, the decision that you’ve reached?” Cora prompted when Noah was still glaring furiously at the floor a minute later. 

“I want to take the implant out. No matter the risks.” Stiles said firmly. “I know the chances are slim that someone will find a remote that works and find a way to reset the phrases and get close enough to do all of that without me or one of you killing them first. But, the idea of it ever happening again, no matter how unlikely, it’s not something I can live with. I want to take the implant out. I know the risks, I’ve seen first-hand what’s most likely to happen, but, like Melissa said, I can heal, so, hopefully that’ll work in my favour, and, if it doesn’t, if it kills me, or leaves me brain dead, then, okay. Well, not okay, obviously I’d prefer it not to happen, but I can’t carry on with this bomb in my head, knowing it could be activated at any point, knowing I could end up like that again. I won’t survive it again. So, that’s my decision.” He explained. 

“Stiles, I don’t know…” Noah began.

“I know you think it’ll be too risky.” Stiles interrupted, “But it’s my choice. And I’m willing to take the risk. I’m doing it. The only way to stop me is to get Derek to order me, but he’s already promised me he won’t ever do that again. So, you can’t stop me. But I would prefer to do this with your support.” 

There was silence, all of them staring at Stiles, the thought that they could lose him, that he could try taking the implant out and it could kill him. The stubborn set to Stiles’ jaw meant it was obvious there would be no changing his mind and Noah sighed, rubbing at his eyes wearily. 

“I don’t like this Stiles.” He grumbled. 

“I know. But you’re not going to change my mind.” Stiles replied, “So, will you help me?” He asked and Noah sighed heavily, still gritting his teeth at the thought of what Stiles had suffered through, what he’d been worrying about without telling any of them. He didn’t want his son to ever worry about that again, even if it meant he could end up losing him altogether. It wasn’t his decision to make, it was Stiles’ and he would support him unconditionally. 

“Okay.” Noah said with determination, “How can I help you?” 

“Well, it’s not like I can go to a hospital, they may notice the whole ‘healing myself’ thing, meaning it’s going to have to happen here. I know it’s going to be quite painful, understatement of the century probably. So, any help you guys can give me is going to be appreciated. Like, maybe, draining some of the pain, if you don’t mind? And, well, Melissa, considering you have the most medical experience, maybe you’d be willing to operate?” He asked. 

Melissa gaped at him, spluttering slightly for a few moments, looking at Stiles with terror. 

“Stiles, I can’t…that’s not something…I’ve helped with operations, but I can’t just perform brain surgery at home.” Melissa stammered and Stiles shrugged. 

“I can’t do it myself, I mean, I can do so much, I can use my magic to, well, open everything up, but, extracting it, I’ll need you to do that.” Stiles said. 

“You can’t be serious?” Jackson said in shock. 

“Why not?” Stiles replied. 

“Because…well…um…Lydia help me out here.” He said and Lydia looked at him helplessly.

“If it’s what Stiles wants, then we’ll support him.” Derek said, “We just need to be sensible about this, make sure we take as many precautions as possible, plan it properly…”

“I was planning on doing it tonight actually.” Stiles interrupted and Derek gaped at him. 

“Please tell me you are joking?” He spluttered. 

“Why not? Why wait? We’re not going to get any more prepared than we already are, and, the longer it is left in, the more chance that somebody could find a way to control me again.” Stiles said simply. 

“No, we need more time to prepare, you’re not at full power, we’d need a surgical area, the right equipment, we need more time.” Derek said firmly. 

“I’m not at full power, but, I’m not far off, a couple of hours and I’ll be at max. So, in the meantime, we get everything set up, and as soon as I hit full power, I use my magic to put a hole in my skull, Melissa pulls the implant out and then I heal.” Stiles said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. 

“But…” Noah said, trailing off when he couldn’t think of any argument against Stiles’ decision, “Okay, so, we’re doing this then?” He said and Stiles smiled gratefully. 

“Thanks dad.” Stiles said, moving forward and hugging him tightly. 

“Just, god, I’m terrified Stiles, I’m terrified this is going to kill you, but I won’t go against your wishes. If you’ve made your mind up, if you’re determined to do this, then I will support you, but, god, please Stiles, please can you do everything you can to not die?” Noah begged. 

“Of course I will dad. I promise.” Stiles said, looking a little teary-eyed. 

“What about Sam? Are you going to say goodbye to him? In case the worst happens?” Peter asked and Stiles clenched his fists before shaking his head. 

“No, I won’t need to, because it’s going to work. I’m confident it’s going to work. By the time Sam wakes up in the morning, I’m going to be implant free and he’ll never have to worry about me hurting him again.” Stiles replied. 

“Stiles,” Scott whined, “Nobody is worried about that.” 

“You might not be, but I am. I can’t do this for the rest of my life. I just can’t, I’m sorry. I know there’s a strong possibility that I’ll die, but, there’s a chance I won’t. If someone else used the implant against me, against you, you will die. There’s no chance about it. You’ll die. And it will be my fault, so, no, I can’t spend the rest of my life terrified that today might be the day. So, I’m doing this, and we’re not going to tell Sam, and, I’ll…I’ll write him a letter, explaining, to give to him if I don’t make it. Sound fair?” 

“No. No it really doesn’t. We’ll be the ones that have to explain to him that you’re dead.” Erica said, “We’ll be the ones that have to live the rest of our lives without you here.” 

“It won’t come to that.” Derek said firmly, looking at Stiles, “You are going to get the implant out and you’re going to survive. You’re going to be fine. You’re strong, you’re the strongest person I know Stiles. So, you are going to get through it and you are going to be fine and that is how it’s going to go. There’s no other option. Understood?” 

“Is that an order?” Stiles teased before he pursed his lips in thought, “Hang on. Wait. Just. Would that work?” He mused, “If you ordered me? If I had a direct order to follow, an order that meant I had to stay alive, then, that would override everything else, right?” Stiles grinned confidently and Derek smiled right back at him. 

“Stiles. I order you to survive this. There’s no other choice. You are going to have the implant taken out and you are going to be fine. I order it.” Derek said seriously and Stiles nodded. 

“Yeah, yeah, that should work.” Stiles said almost excitedly.

“Fine, okay, well, I’ll need somewhere sterile, I’ll go to the hospital now to get the relevant medical equipment, and, when I get back, we’ll prep you for surgery.” Melissa said, looking nervous but determined, if they were going to do this, she was going to do the best damn job she could, and Stiles would live through this. 

“We can’t use anything that might make me drowsy, I need to be awake and aware of what’s going on.” Stiles said and Melissa frowned, pursing her lips in thought. 

“I don’t know that I’ll be able to get hold of any painkillers that don’t make you drowsy, all of those are accounted for by the dosage, if even one went missing, I’d lose my job.” She said after a moment. 

“Okay, so, we don’t use painkillers.” Stiles said. 

“You have got to be kidding!?” Isaac said incredulously. 

“If you guys don’t mind being my painkillers for me, it’ll be enough.” Stiles said. 

“You’re insane.” Erica said in disbelief, “But, if this is what you want, then, yeah, we’ll be your painkillers.” 

“Great, let’s get to it then gang. It’s not going to pull itself out.” Stiles said, clapping his hands with enthusiasm. 

There were several fond eye rolls as everyone headed off to get everything prepared, it was obvious they were all terrified, scared of what could happen, but they also knew that Stiles was going to do this with or without their help, and none of them wanted to be anywhere else other than at his side. Stiles sat at the kitchen table, writing a letter to Sam, one that he hoped the kid would never have to read if Derek’s order worked, and conserving his energy, trying to build his levels of magic quicker than usual, trying to use his magic to increase his magic, it was a twisted way of doing things, but, Stiles was almost certain it was working, he certainly felt more powered up than he had done an hour ago. He just needed to focus and close his eyes and take the time to feel his magic, he wouldn’t be able to do it in a fight, or in the spur of the moment, but, while there were no distractions, it was definitely working for him. 

“Are you sure about this?” Noah asked with worry almost three hours later. It was just after midnight and Stiles wondered vaguely if this was his last day on this earth, if he would be dead before the sun rose. He wanted to believe that wouldn’t be the case, that Derek’s order was going to be enough to keep him alive, but he couldn’t help but think that it might not work, that he might die. He thought of the danger the pack would be in if he kept the implant in and his decision was made, not accounting for what could happen to him, he wasn’t going to put their lives in danger unnecessarily, if it killed him then that would still be better than somebody else forcing him into doing something so much worse down the line, not to mention what that person could do to him, he thought of Matt and shuddered. There was no choice. He was doing this.

“Yeah dad. I am.” Stiles said, hugging his dad tightly, “I love you.” 

“I love you too kiddo, so much. This is going to work. Derek has ordered you to survive, so, you’re going to survive and you’re going to be fine.” Noah said and Stiles nodded into his shoulder.

“I’m going to be fine dad. I promise.” He looked around at the gathered pack, they all looked nervous but there was a steely determination in all their eyes, “Guess there’s no point waiting any longer, let’s get this show started.” He said, moving towards the table, taking his shirt off and lying face down, trying not to look at the medical instruments laid out on the tray at his side.

“Okay, I think the best way to do this is that one of us is draining his pain at a time, we don’t want to all try and drain the pain and make him light headed, or make it that we can’t take pain later on in the surgery, it won’t be a quick two-minute thing so we need to be smart about it.” Peter said. 

“I’ll be able to draw more pain than the rest of you,” Derek said, “So, I’ll try to hold on all the way through, it’ll mean none of you will have to draw as much pain as if you were doing it by yourself.” 

“Or we could work in groups of two and split it like that?” Boyd suggested. 

“No I want…I mean, I’m Alpha. It’s my responsibility.” Derek said and Boyd shrugged. 

“Alright, well, I’ll go first then.” Scott said, reaching out and touching Stiles’ bare shoulder, trying not to look at the scars that littered his back, they would only make him angry, and he needed to be calm in order to draw pain from Stiles, he paused in confusion, “Why are you already hurting?” He asked in confusion and Stiles turned slightly to glance at him. 

“Huh?” He asked.

“You’re already in pain? Why?” Scott queried. 

“Oh, well, yeah, I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, I always hurt.” Stiles said dismissively, “Some of my wounds didn’t heal…neatly I guess is probably the best way to describe it, there’s quite a bit of scar tissue, obviously, and a lot of them still cause me some level of pain, I mean, it’s not like it’s a huge deal, it’s not agony, I just kind of hurt a bit.” He said casually. 

“So, you are in some level of constant pain?” Scott asked looking horrified and Stiles shrugged like it was no big deal, “God, Stiles, can you, like, is there any way to stop the pain? Heal the scar tissue?” 

“I’ve not tried. Maybe, once this is over, if Derek is okay with it, I can give it a go?” Stiles suggested. 

“You don’t need to ask me to heal yourself Stiles, you can do it whenever you want, but, not right now, because you’re going to need all the magic you can get to get this implant out. As soon as this is done, if you want to heal your scars, as much as you can, to try and take the pain away, then that’s okay with me.” Derek said, already moving towards Stiles and reaching out to drain his pain, surprised by just how much pain Stiles was in, Derek couldn’t help but be a little worried, if this was the pain Stiles was in now, how were they going to manage the pain when they literally cut his skull open and started messing around in his brain. 

“Don’t look so worried Der, it’s going to be fine.” Stiles said, settling back down on the table, “Ready when you are Mel.” He said as Melissa scrubbed up along with Lydia and Chris, pulling on the surgical gloves and preparing themselves, hooking up the monitor to measure his heart rate, she knew the wolves would tell her if anything changed with his heart, but, she needed to hear it herself, for peace of mind if nothing else.

“Alright Stiles, I’m ready.” She said picking up the scalpel with barely a tremble in her fingers, Lydia passed Stiles a towel which he put in his mouth and bit down on tightly, and Derek and Scott began draining his pain as Stiles used his magic to open up a large cut at the base of his skull. 

Melissa pressed the scalpel against the wound, opening it a little further, Stiles gripped the table as tightly as he could to stop himself from crying out with pain, glad that Derek and Scott were taking at least some of it away. 

“Okay Stiles, I’m going to insert a small camera, this will let us see exactly where the implant is and then I can put the forceps in to pull it out, if it gets too much, if at any point you want me to stop, just let me know, alright?” She said and stiles grunted out an affirmative. 

Melissa got to work, trying to imagine that this was just another procedure, trying to ignore the fact that she was performing brain surgery on a patient without any kind of pain medication, trying not to think about the fact that the patient was Stiles, the kid she thought of as a second son. 

Lydia and Chris assisted her as much as they could, she was vaguely aware of Isaac switching places with Scott, and, a little while later, Erica switching with Isaac, then Boyd with Erica, Jackson with Boyd, Peter with Jackson and then, finally, Melissa located the implant and she let out a sigh of relief. 

“Okay, I’ve found the implant, are you hanging in there Stiles?” She asked and Stiles grunted again. He was shaking, covered in a slight sheen of sweat, it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain, even with the wolves draining most of it. “Alright, Chris, pass me the forceps, we’re going to insert these and then remove the implant, this is going to be when it gets really bad. You’re doing great so far. Not much longer Stiles.” She reassured him. 

“You’ve got this Stiles.” Derek said, resting both hands on Stiles’ shoulder, ignoring the sweat forming on his own brow, his body felt like it was on fire, he was in so much pain he could barely see straight, but he was not abandoning Stiles, he was not letting go of him until this was over. 

Stiles screamed when Melissa inserted the forceps, his whole body tensing from the pain, thanking god that his dad had had the foresight to put a strap over the back of his neck and the top of his back, keeping him firmly in place in order to stop him from disrupting the delicate surgery. 

“Okay, I’ve got it, Stiles, I’ve got it. I’m going to start the removal process now.” Melissa said almost twenty minutes later, “Shit.” She cursed a moment later when Stiles let out a cry of pain. 

“What? What is it?” Noah asked with worry. 

“It’s barbed, the damn thing is barbed.” Melissa cursed under her breath, “If I pull on it, it’ll tear, it’ll do extreme damage. No wonder everyone died when they tried to remove them.” She grimaced. “I can’t remove it, if I remove it, it’ll kill him.” Stiles spat out the towel keeping him from screaming the house down. 

“Just do it Melissa. We’ve come this far, please, finish it.” Stiles begged. 

“Can you do it? Without killing him?” Derek pressed. 

“It’ll take longer, I’ll need to remove each barb individually, it’s going to take longer than we’d planned, but, yes, I should be able to do it.” Melissa said with determination. 

“Okay, do it. Just do it. Please.” Stiles begged and Melissa nodded.

“Alright, let’s do this, Chris, I’m going to need the lance, you’re going to be my second pair of hands and we’re going to do this very, very slowly, understood?” Melissa instructed, Chris nodded solemnly, “Right, take these, hold them very still.” She said, handing him the forceps, and taking the lance, “You’re going to make sure the implant doesn’t move, I’m going to remove the barbs one at a time and Stiles, you’re going to keep talking to me, any spikes in pain, I need to know about it, got it?” 

“Yeah, I’ll try.” He managed to say and Melissa nodded, setting to work as Stiles gripped tighter to the table, Derek reached out grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly, trying to let Stiles know that he was still here with him, even as he continued to drain Stiles’ pain with his other hand and Cora did her best to drain the rest of Stiles’ pain, keeping him as still and as calm as possible. 

“Alright, Stiles, I need you to talk to me, keep talking please.” 

“Okay, sure, I’ll just strike up a casual conversation while you’re rooting around in my brain.” He said sarcastically, grimacing slightly. 

“Chris, I need you to keep the tension, hold it steady and only move it fractionally if I tell you to.” Melissa ordered, “Carry on Stiles.” 

“Right, well, um, I’m pretty sure that I’m going to graduate. I mean, I’ve worked my ass off, and, I think I’m going to actually graduate, obviously, if I don’t die first…” 

“You’re not going to die.” Derek growled. 

“Okay, I’m not going to die.” Stiles said fondly, “Which means I am going to graduate, I don’t know how that’s even possible with how much I missed but, I’ve worked really hard so I figure I at least deserve a high school diploma…” Stiles continued to ramble, obviously trying to follow Melissa’s instructions even as she continued her work. 

“Blood pressure is dropping.” Lydia said almost an hour later, looking at the screen that displayed Stiles’ vitals. 

“Nearly there now Stiles, only two more to go. How are you feeling?” Melissa asked. 

“I’m okay, I think…a bit…I’m feeling a bit cold…and…diz…” Stiles’ voice trailed off and Melissa froze in her actions, watching with horror as Stiles’ heart rate dropped suddenly and all hell broke loose. 

“Stiles? Stiles!” Derek said with terror, reaching out and resting his hand on Stiles’ cheek, feeling it cold beneath his fingertips, his lips had taken on a bluish tinge and although his heart was still beating, it was much too slow, instead of the sixty beats per minute that it usually was, it was closer to twenty and Derek was terrified he was watching Stiles die right in front of him. 

“What’s happening?” Scott asked with worry. 

“The implant must have some kind of anti-tampering mechanism fitted.” Melissa said, hesitating for a moment before looking at Stiles and then what remained of the implant, “Derek, can you bring him round?” 

“Stiles. Stiles, you need to wake up.” Derek ordered and Stiles groaned slightly, his eyes barely fluttering open before they closed again. “Stiles, come on, please, you have to wake up.” He pleaded but there was still no response. 

“Allison, Isaac, go fetch as many blankets as you can, cover him as much as you can, stop his body temperature dropping any lower. Peter, can you go turn the heating up please? The rest of you, take as much pain as you can, I’m going to try and finish the removal and I need Stiles to not feel any of it.” She instructed, returning to the task at hand. 

Stiles was still unconscious twenty minutes later when she managed to remove the final barb and she couldn’t help but be worried, still, Stiles had instructed her to do this and she was going to do it. She extracted the lance carefully and then took back the forceps from Chris who rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the ache in his muscles from standing still so long. 

“Okay, show time.” Melissa said, moving the implant delicately, checking constantly for any signs that she might have missed a barb or something. She’d barely moved it more than two millimetres when Stiles’ whole body tensed, his muscles contracting, there was the smell of something burning and then a sudden spurt of blood covering the camera showing the implant before Stiles’ heart rate crashed and he flatlined. Everyone stilled for a second, none of them sure what had happened or what to do and then Melissa sprung in to action. She gritted her teeth and gripped the forceps tightly, manoeuvring the implant as quickly as she could without the visual of the camera to assist her. 

“Melissa! Melissa we need to order him to heal!” Noah said with terror as Stiles continued to flatline. 

“No, not yet! We do it now and he’ll never get the implant out. We’re nearly there. Nearly there.” She said, trying to concentrate, trying to visualise the path she needed to take to get it out without causing any further damage to Stiles’ brain. “Nearly…got it…do it now Derek!” She said, holding the implant triumphantly in the forceps. 

“Stiles, heal. I order you to heal. Right now. Heal.” Derek commanded. Stiles stayed still, there was no reaction, no sign of any life, “Stiles! Please! Please, I need you to heal, I order you to heal, please.” He begged, tears filling his eyes as the rest of the pack gathered around them, reaching out to touch Stiles as if that would somehow help other than just offering themselves comfort. 

“Wait, hang on.” Peter said, glancing towards the monitor and then lowering his head so that his ear was pressed to Stiles’ back. “I can hear…” He muttered just as the machine behind him beeped and Stiles’ heart beat was recorded for the first time in several minutes. “Oh thank god.” Peter whispered in relief as Stiles’ heart beat increased, returning to an almost normal speed, the wound on the back of his head began to heal and, a few minutes later, colour began to return to his cheeks. 

“Mischief? Mischief, can you hear me?” Noah whispered, crouching down near Stiles’ face and resting a hand against his cheek. “Kiddo? Stiles? Please?” Noah said, tears filling his eyes when Stiles still didn’t show any signs of waking. 

“Stiles. Wake up. You have to wake up.” Derek ordered, Stiles remained motionless. 

“What happened? I mean, you had it, you had the fucking thing, what happened to do this?” Cora said and Melissa looked at the implant, twisting it slightly in the daylight. 

“It looks like there was an additional, I don’t know, self-destruct or something.” She said studying it, sounding slightly hysterical, “Here,” She pointed to a small piece of wire, it was maybe half an inch long and so thin it was barely visible even to werewolf eyes, “It looks like it was still connected when I started to remove the implant, when I moved it,” She poked the wire with a pair of tweezers and the wire sparked, the brightness of them causing all of them to shield their eyes for a moment before it stopped, “I’m going to take a wild guess that whatever sick bastard came up with this design made sure that nobody took it out without their assistance, otherwise, that tiny piece of wire issues a fatal electric shock to the brain.” 

“Fatal?” Erica asked sounded horrified. 

“It looks that way, where the implant was positioned, the length of the wire, it would have connected to his Medulla Oblangata, the other barbs connected to the various lobes and cortexes, they’ll have no doubt issued the shocks that Stiles received during his time when the implant was active, but, the Medulla Oblangata controls his breathing, heart and respiration. The woman who gave Gerard the implant was lying. It wasn’t that they hadn’t figured out a way to get the implant out without killing the patients, they were designed to kill. Those absolute bastards.” Melissa cursed, staring at the tiny implant with pure rage. 

“So, what did it do to his brain?” Scott asked in a small voice, “I mean, he’s breathing and his heart is beating, so, he’s alive, right? But, is he…will he wake up?” 

“I don’t know.” Melissa answered honestly, “I’m hopeful, I think, by removing the barbs connected to the other sections of the brain, the only part that received the shock was the Medulla, and, considering he’s still breathing, he obviously healed that bit, the rest of the wound has healed too, it could be exhaustion? I’m hoping it’s exhaustion. I mean, he’s just had open brain surgery without any painkillers by a nurse who is most definitely not qualified to do this. The fact that the implant is out and he’s alive is a miracle in itself.” She said, sounding on the verge of tears.

“But what if he’s brain damaged? If he never wakes up?” Allison asked. 

“The only way to tell would be to get him in the MRI at the hospital. If you want, we can go now?” She suggested. 

“Dn’tneedit.” Stiles mumbled, his words slurred slightly, his eyes barely opening.

“Stiles! Oh thank god! Stiles! Are you alright?” Lydia asked as the rest of the pack gathered around him, Stiles groaned slightly, opening his eyes and then closing them again, stretching and shifting his body as if testing that everything still worked the way it should. 

Stiles felt like he was wading through quicksand, his whole body felt heavy, even trying to open his eyes felt like too much effort, he was exhausted. He tried to move, roll over on to his back, instead he managed to raise his arm about an inch off the table before he gave up and closed his eyes again. 

“M’tired.” He muttered again, trying to keep his eyes open and failing miserably. 

“That’s fine kiddo.” Noah said, sounding so relieved that Stiles wanted to look at him but he couldn’t, it was too much effort. “You sleep now, we’ll be right here with you, you just rest Mischief, you’re okay, you’re safe.”

“G’t’tout?” He asked, having to know, one way or the other. 

“Yes, yeah, yes Stiles, we got it out.” Melissa said running a reassuring hand over his shoulder. 

“Thanks.” He managed before he lost his fight for consciousness and slipped in to sleep. 

The pack all collapsed in relief the instant Stiles had spoken, he was alive, he was okay, he was going to be okay. Derek didn’t have the strength left to stand, now that he knew Stiles was alive, that he wasn’t brain damaged, that they’d got the implant out without causing irrevocable damage, he sank to the floor, leaning against the nearest wall and closing his eyes to go to sleep, knowing that the rest of the pack were copying his actions as their own exhaustion set in.


	14. Chapter 14

Sam wandered downstairs in confusion, he’d woken up and seen that he was late for school, he was surprised that Stiles or Derek hadn’t been in to wake him up yet, he’d gotten dressed and looked in their bedrooms but neither of them were there. He’d started to worry then, especially when he checked Noah’s room and found that empty too, he’d checked all the other bedrooms and they were all empty. Had they all left for the day and forgotten about him? 

“Stiles?” He called out uncertainly, “Derek?” He said, barely louder than a whisper, he was scared, where were they all? “Stiles?” He tried again, “Anyone?” He whimpered. 

There was a loud bang from Peter’s office and Sam heard someone groaning as if they were in pain, suddenly he could hear several other voices, voices he recognised and they sounded worried, Sam rushed forward, opening the door to the office and staring at the scene in front of him in befuddlement. 

Stiles was lay on the floor, groaning slightly, he looked to have fallen off the table that was next to him, he was shirtless and there was dried blood at the back of his neck, the rest of the pack were hovering around nervously, all of them looked to have only just woken up themselves, there were blood stained gloves and gauze filling a few bowls next to the table and Sam stared in horror, he had no idea what had been going on here, it looked like it had been violent. 

“Hey kid, you okay?” Stiles asked groggily, sitting up from where he’d been lay on the floor, gently pushing away the hands that were touching him as if to check he was okay and looking directly at Sam. 

“I’m late for school.” Sam blurted out and Stiles grinned at him. 

“I think we all are.” He agreed sheepishly, Sam bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment before he rushed forward, hugging Stiles tightly, feeling tears fill his eyes when Stiles hugged him back just as tightly, “What’s wrong Sammy?” 

“I thought you’d left me.” He said, sobbing in to Stiles’ bare shoulder, surprised to find that it felt warm for once, “I woke up and you were all gone and none of you were in your beds and I thought you’d left without me.” 

“I’ll never leave you Sam. I promise you.” Stiles said, sounding almost pained as Sam hugged him a little tighter, “I promise Sam, I’ll never leave you.” Stiles insisted, Sam believed him, he could almost feel the truth in Stiles’ words. The rest of the pack gathered in around them, patting Sam’s shoulder gently, or running a hand through his hair affectionately, and Sam appreciated it, but it was Stiles that he needed most of all, Stiles who would always look out for him. “How about we bunk off for the day?” Stiles suggested a few minutes later and Sam pulled away enough to look at Stiles in surprise. 

“You don’t mind me being off school? Even though I’m not ill?” He said in shock. 

“Just this once. I think we’ve all had a long few days, it’s Friday, we’ll just tell the school you weren’t feeling well, and then we can watch some films and eat ice cream and play games and whatever you want to do, does that sound good?” Stiles offered and Sam grinned. 

“That sounds great.” He said excitedly, standing up and looking around the room again, “Why were you on the floor? And why have you got blood on you?” Sam asked, Stiles stilled, glancing at Melissa with worry. 

“Where? Can you get it off?” Stiles asked and Melissa nodded, putting on some gloves and picking up clean gauze, wiping away the dried blood and then depositing it in the bowls with the rest of it. “Here.” Stiles said, clicking his fingers and they all watched with surprise as the gauze and gloves burned brightly for a moment before disintegrating into nothing. “None of you got it anywhere?” 

“I think you’d know if we did.” Jackson said, getting to his feet with a sigh as Stiles nodded in agreement. 

“Right, okay, so, do you fancy waffles for breakfast?” Stiles asked Sam who nodded in excitement, “Alright, well, go get the bowls out and I’ll be there in a sec.” He said, as Sam rushed out of the room towards the kitchen to start preparing food while Stiles got to his feet a bit unsteadily, leaning on Isaac for support for a moment. 

“How do you feel?” Noah asked and Stiles shrugged, looking around and pulling on his shirt so he didn’t have to worry about anyone looking at his scars. 

“Tired.” He admitted, “Warm.” He added with a slight smile, “Which I haven’t felt in a long time.” He swayed slightly on the spot before he shook his head as if to focus slightly and moved after Sam. 

“You need to take it easy, you just had brain surgery, your heart stopped, you need to take it easy.” Scott said and Stiles smiled at him. 

“That’s why we’re having a duvet day.” He said, trying to shake off the weariness he felt running through his whole body. 

“Some of you go grab some duvets from upstairs and meet in the living room.” Derek said, “Stiles, you go get comfy, you need to rest. I’ll make breakfast with Sam.”

“I can manage.” Stiles protested. 

“I know you can, but you don’t have to. Take the help, go sit down, I’ll cook with Sam. Besides, I want to spend some time with him, so let me.” Derek insisted, guiding Stiles to the sofas and sitting him down. 

“Okay.” Stiles sighed, he was tired, and he kind of hurt from falling off the table, not to mention he had a pounding headache that he hoped would go away some time soon. Danny settled down next to him, pulling a blanket over them as soon as Isaac passed him one and within ten minutes the entire pack was snuggled into the sofas. Sam appeared a few minutes after that and Stiles let him choose a film before he patted the space at his side and Sam bounded over, jumping in next to Stiles and getting comfortable. Derek appeared twenty minutes after that, carrying through plates upon plates of food and the pack all dived in hungrily, grabbing as much as they could fit on their plates, Sam grinned at Derek and motioned for him to come sit down, Derek thought it was a bit of a squeeze but managed to slot in between Sam and the edge of the sofa, even if Sam ended up sat more on his lap than the sofa and Derek could feel the warm heat of Stiles only an inch away.

After about an hour Stiles kicked the duvet off, almost absentmindedly complaining that he was too warm, he froze with the blanket around his calves, his fingers still tangled in the duvet, a look of astonishment on his features before he grinned widely, his hand reaching up to touch the back of his head where the implant used to be, he shook his head in disbelief before settling back down on the sofa and letting Sam climb into his lap. 

“You never get too warm.” Sam said and Stiles shrugged, a grin playing on his lips. 

“Oh well, things change, I guess I can get warm again now.” He smiled, sounding so happy at such a simple thing that it made Derek grin widely too. 

They spent the entire day relaxing on the sofas, spending time together as a pack, Stiles kept drifting off to sleep and Derek didn’t blame him, he must have been exhausted. It was obvious that they were all just glad Stiles was alive, everything else could and would be dealt with, but, for now, the implant was out and Stiles was safe. 

Stiles was surprised by just how exhausted he felt, his magic was low, not non-existent, but, not far off. He really didn’t want to do any magic any time soon, he wanted to sleep for a solid week instead. He knew he kept drifting off, every time he woke up there was a different film on the screen in front of him and people had shifted around slightly, he wasn’t really bothered by that though, he was still so relieved that the implant was out, that he was alive, that he’d never have to worry about ending up like that again, nothing else seemed to matter right now. Even if Derek went batshit crazy and started ordering him around like Kate used to do, Stiles would be able to attempt to fight the orders, he’d be able to at least try to do something, he would not be a zombie trapped inside his own mind again. 

Usually he would hate falling asleep, terrified of disturbing the rest of the pack with his nightmares, but he was too tired to care, he just hoped that his exhaustion would keep the nightmares at bay. Something seemed to work though because the next time Stiles woke up it was dark outside and Derek was crouched in front of him, shaking Stiles gently. 

“Hey.” Derek said quietly. 

“Hi.” Stiles mumbled sleepily, blinking blearily a few times as he tried to focus on the room around him, surprised to find it was already empty of people other than Derek. 

“Your dad took Sam up to bed a bit ago, I wasn’t sure if to wake you or let you sleep. How do you feel?” Derek asked and Stiles rubbed his head, grimacing slightly as he sat upright and tried to focus. 

“Okay I guess, just tired.” Stiles admitted. 

“Do you want a hand up?” Derek offered, extending his hand and Stiles gripped it tightly, pulling himself off the sofa and standing up, he felt a little light headed but it passed quickly enough and he moved to go up the stairs to his room, Derek following a few steps behind him, Stiles was sure he was still basically asleep and he wasn’t sure he wanted to wake up enough that he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. Instead he stumbled up the stairs, almost falling into his bedroom door and collapsed face first on to his bed. “You okay?” Derek asked from the doorway. 

“Nnnn.” Stiles grunted in reply, turning his head slightly to look at Derek before sighing and rolling over on the bed to make space for him, patting the duvet next to him to indicate that Derek should come sleep with him. He moved enough to pull a blanket over himself and he felt a weight sink in to the bed next to him, he wasn’t bothered by it though, knowing it was only Derek and knowing he was safe with him, instead he relaxed and allowed sleep to claim him. 

Derek couldn’t help the huff of laughter he let out as Stiles let out a soft snore, it was obvious he was exhausted, Derek hoped it was only temporary, a result of the surgery. He moved to the drawers, pulling out a pair of sleep shorts, shaking his head slightly with bemusement, he was keeping clothes in Stiles’ room, he wasn’t sure when he’d started doing it, but he didn’t care. He got changed quickly and climbed into bed, pulling Stiles close to him and snuggling down to go to sleep. 

Stiles was so hot, too hot in fact, he wasn’t exactly sure where he was or how he’d got there, he was still half-asleep as he pulled his t-shirt off and lay back down in the bed, slipping back in to sleep easily. 

Derek woke up to the feel of bare skin pressed against his own, he blinked his eyes open, staring at Stiles’ bare back, Stiles was asleep, asleep in his arms, it felt so right and Derek felt such contentment, such joy, that he never wanted to move. He stared at Stiles’ bare skin, studying the scars there, he wished that he’d been able to better protect Stiles, that he’d never had to suffer through everything that Kate had put him through. He shifted slightly his fingers brushing the scarred skin of Stiles’ arm softly, he wished he had been there for Stiles, but nothing could change the past, he could only make sure that he would be there for Stiles in the future. 

“Where are Stiles and Derek?” Sam asked when he came downstairs to see the rest of the pack but no sign of Stiles or Derek. 

“I think they’re still asleep.” Isaac said. 

“Is Stiles okay?” Sam asked quietly. 

“Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t he be?” Scott replied casually. 

“He was bleeding yesterday morning, and then he slept like all day, and all night and he’s still asleep now. It’s not like him.” Sam explained and they all glanced at each other, Noah’s forehead wrinkling in concern. 

“I mean, he’s fine, if there was something wrong, Derek would have shouted, wouldn’t he?” Noah muttered quietly and everyone suddenly looked nervous, “Maybe I’ll just go check on them.” He said moving towards the stairs, everyone else hovering at the bottom of the stairs as they waited to hear that everything was fine. 

Derek heard the quiet knock on Stiles’ door and a moment later it cracked open, Stiles didn’t even stir as Noah entered the room, looking at Derek nervously. 

“Is he okay?” Noah whispered and Derek nodded, shifting slightly to knock into Stiles and wake him up. 

“Wh’t?” Stiles grumbled sleepily. 

“Just checking that you are feeling okay kid?” Noah said, moving around to check Stiles’ temperature as Derek got out of the bed and threw a shirt on. 

“My head hurts.” Stiles mumbled, shifting in exhaustion, he tried to sit up, but he felt weak, queasy even, he could barely open his eyes without wincing. Noah and Derek both stilled, looking at each other with sudden panic. 

“Stiles?” Derek said, moving around the bed and crouching down next to Noah, “What kind of headache? Like something to do with the implant? Do you think it’s an after effect?” He asked with worry. 

“Dunno.” Stiles muttered, groaning as he finally managed to get sat upright and he rubbed a hand over his eyes because the light was hurting. 

“I’ll go grab Melissa.” Noah said, racing out of the room and calling for Melissa, of course, that meant that the entire pack were instantly racing up the stairs, all of them rushing to make sure that Stiles wasn’t dead. 

“Stiles, sweetie, what’s wrong?” Melissa said, pushing past Noah and moving towards Stiles who was resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. 

“I’m dizzy, my head hurts, the light hurts, I feel sick.” Stiles said quietly and Melissa reached out, taking his temperature and examining him as gently as she could.

“Any loss of sensation? Any loss of eyesight? Trouble breathing? Speech? Anything feel out of the ordinary other than the headache?” She asked.

“I don’t think so. I just feel tired.” Stiles replied and Melissa nodded before letting out a sigh of relief. 

“It’s pretty common for patients who’ve had brain surgery to have headaches for a few weeks afterwards while the brain readjusts. The symptoms you’ve listed, the fact your pupils are responsive, your eyesight isn’t affected, you can still move and speak, there’s no tingling or loss of sensation, I think this is a normal after effect. You just need to rest.” 

“But…he healed himself, if he healed himself why is he still suffering like this?” Scott asked still sounding worried. 

“It’s not an injury you can heal, it’s more like…letting things settle, readjust, there’s no damage, his brain just needs to get used to not having the implant embedded in. I recommend plenty of rest and to take it easy. At least for a few days.” Melissa said. 

“You took the implant out?” Sam asked and Stiles blinked a few times, looking in his direction as best he could without squinting away from the light. “You said that was dangerous!” He scolded and Stiles winced. 

“Sam,” He motioned the bed next to him and Sam moved forwards, sitting down gently, Stiles reached out and put a hand around his shoulder, pulling Sam in to his side, “I’m okay kid, I’m alright, I’m just going to be tired for a few days, but I’ll be fine.” 

“You said it was dangerous, that it could kill you. Why’d you do it?” Sam asked sounding annoyed. 

“Well,” Stiles sighed, wishing his head would stop pounding so he could think straight, “Sometimes in life, you’ll have to make choices, and there won’t be an easy choice, someone will be upset, or hurt, or unhappy, there won’t be a good option. But you’ll have to forget about everyone else, don’t think about anyone else, think about your own happiness, what you can live with, what will be bearable for you. It’ll be hard, but, you have to make the choice you can live with, even if there are risks, even if it might hurt people around you, because it has to be YOUR choice and it has to be the right choice for YOU. Okay?” 

“So, getting the implant out, even though you could have died, that was the choice that felt right?” Sam asked, no longer angry, more that he was confused, puzzled as to how Stiles risking his life could ever be the right choice. 

“It was the one I could live with.” Stiles explained, “The choice for me, it was between risking my life getting the implant out, or risking that I could end up back as that thing, used against you, unable to fight any orders. This wasn’t a hard choice for me. I would have rather died than ever have to go through that again.” He said, Sam let out a distraught sob and Stiles held him closer, “But, I didn’t. I didn’t die. The implant is out. And I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m fine kid, there’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all.” He reassured him. 

“You promise?” Sam muttered quietly. 

“Of course kid, I’m fine. I promise.” Stiles replied, hugging him a little tighter, fighting off the urge to close his eyes and go to sleep because he needed to make sure Sam was okay first. 

“Okay. Are you going to go back to sleep now?” Sam asked and Stiles nodded wearily. 

“Yeah, I think I need to sleep, but I’m just sleeping, that’s all, you don’t need to worry about me.” Stiles replied. 

“Can I stay with you?” Sam whispered and Stiles nodded. 

“Sure, if you want to kid, that’s fine.” He said, already slumping back towards the pillows. Stiles was asleep within moments, he was exhausted and in pain and he needed to sleep. He knew the pack all needed his reassurance right now, but he was too tired to offer it to them, instead he allowed sleep to claim him. 

The pack all hovered nervously, none of them really wanted to leave, not knowing Stiles wasn’t back to normal, that he was still recovering, no, they all needed to be close to him, for their sanity. It only took them a few minutes before they’d all made themselves comfortable, settling in to pillows and blankets scattered around the room, Sam snuggling up in the bed next to Stiles, Derek lying down on the other side of Sam. Scott started a film playing on his laptop while some of the others picked up books that had been scattered around the room when Stiles had picked them up and then put them again at a later date. 

Isaac and Cora headed downstairs around lunch time and reappeared a little while later with plates piled high with food, depositing them down in the middle of the room and letting everyone help themselves. Stiles slept through it. When Jackson and Boyd went and did the same for dinner, he still slept through it. Noah wasn’t sure if it would be better to wake him and let him eat, but Melissa pointed out that Stiles needed to rest, that if his head was as bad as it had been earlier, he wouldn’t be able to stomach food anyway. 

Derek knew he should send them all to their own rooms, let them get a decent night’s sleep, but, he knew his own desire was to stay as close to Stiles as possible, and he knew the others were all feeling something similar, there was no way he was going to force them to leave if they didn’t want to. 

They spent all Saturday night and most of Sunday morning in Stiles’ room, until, eventually, when the sun was just about at its peak, Stiles finally opened his eyes, blinking blearily at his surroundings. 

“Hey.” Stiles muttered, disrupting them all from the film they were watching. 

“Stiles.” Sam cried in relief. 

“How are you feeling kiddo?” Noah asked, getting up and running a hand gently over Stiles’ forehead. 

“Okay I think.” Stiles said sitting up slowly, relaxing when he realised there was no pain. “Yeah, I’m okay. I feel fine.” 

“That’s great news.” Scott said happily, sitting on the bed next to Stiles, “So, no headache? No feeling dizzy or sick? The light isn’t hurting your eyes?” 

“No, honestly, I feel okay. Still a little tired I guess, but, other than that, I’m okay.” He reassured them. “Maybe a bit hungry too.” He joked when his stomach rumbled loudly. 

“We were just about to make dinner; do you want us to bring you something up?” Lydia offered and Stiles shook his head. 

“Pretty sure I can make it downstairs by myself.” He grinned, getting out of the bed, “Actually, toilet first, then I’ll come get food.” He said, moving off towards the bathroom while the rest of the pack headed downstairs. Stiles took one look at himself in the mirror and decided a shower was in order, he pulled off his jeans and boxers and jumped in the shower, scrubbing off the remains of stale sweat and exhaustion until he finally shut off the shower, got dressed and headed down the stairs to see what the others had gotten up to in his absence. 

“Feel better?” Derek asked and Stiles grinned. 

“Much thanks.” Stiles replied, settling into the sofa next to Cora and grabbing a sandwich from the nearest plate. 

“Good to hear it.” Derek smiled, returning to the book he’d been reading. 

“Actually, I was thinking…” Stiles began and Derek sighed, this wouldn’t be a good thought, he was almost certain of it, “Would it be okay if I tried seeing if I could get rid of some of my scars? Like, maybe…maybe I could try healing them? If that’s okay?” 

“Of course it is.” Derek replied, “I mean, maybe you should wait until you’re feeling a hundred percent?” 

“I feel fine. Besides, chances are it’s not going to do much, just, if I could try to heal some of the scar tissue, maybe it might mean I don’t ache quite so much?” Stiles said. 

“Sure, yeah, I mean, if that’s what you want to do, then, yeah, you’ve got my full support.” Derek said and Stiles smiled gratefully. 

“Do we all get to see?” Erica asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“There might not be much to see?” 

“So? If there isn’t, then I just get to stare at your smoking hot bod for a while, I’m cool with either option.” She grinned and Stiles rolled his eyes fondly. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He said dismissively, it was obvious to all of them that he didn’t believe her. “Yeah, if you want to watch then yeah, sure, it won’t make any difference to me.” Stiles said. 

“So, how do you want to do this then?” Scott asked. 

“Hang on, won’t it hurt?” Sam queried. 

“No, no, it won’t hurt. The idea is that it stops me from hurting as much as I do, so, it’s a good thing.” Stiles reassured him but Sam still looked nervous. “It’s probably not going to do anything so there won’t be anything exciting to watch.” He said and the entire pack pursed their lips.

“We’re still staying Stiles.” Allison said, “So, take off your shirt and get to work.” 

“Alright, sure.” He said, moving off the sofa and settling onto a couple of cushions on the floor, pulling his shirt off, and closing his eyes to concentrate. 

“You don’t usually meditate to heal?” Peter commented and Stiles shrugged. 

“I’m not meditating, I’m just trying to concentrate, it’s not like I’ve ever tried to heal scar tissue before. So, I figure I need to focus a little, which means closing my eyes and thinking about what I want to do rather than just getting it happen. So, shut up and let me concentrate.” Stiles said, rolling his eyes, taking another deep breath and then closing his eyes again, rolling his shoulders to try and ease them of tension and focusing on his magic. 

Derek tried not to stare, Stiles’ scars were on full display for them all to see, but that wasn’t what Derek was staring at, instead he couldn’t help but look at the broadness of his shoulders, the moles that were scattered across his pale skin, the narrow band of hair that ran from his naval to the waistband of his joggers. Derek looked away pointedly, determined not to get aroused at the sight of Stiles half naked in front of him, he had to remind himself that the rest of the pack were in the room. 

Stiles could feel a tingling of his magic in his chest, he knew that it was doing something, he tried to focus on the injuries that hurt the most, where most of the pain came from, it didn’t take him long to realise he had a bigger problem and he cursed internally. 

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked as soon as Stiles sighed in annoyance, rolling his shoulders again as he tried to shake off the failure and try again. 

“The tracker. It’s causing issues.” He sighed in frustration. 

“Oh god, yeah, of course, well, um, can you take it out? I mean, there’s no reason to keep it in, is there?” Scott queried. 

“I don’t know, I mean, I’m pretty sure I can take it out without any issue, but, like, do I want to? Okay, so, it’s causing me pain staying in, but, if anything happened, like, if someone else became my master and took me wherever, you wouldn’t be able to find me, if you wanted to.” Stiles rambled. 

“That’s a stupid reason to leave it in.” Jackson muttered and Stiles glanced at him, “Well, if someone else became your master, it would mean Derek was dead. And if he’s dead, chances are we’d all challenge whoever your master was, to keep you at home with us, meaning if a new master left with you, we’re all dead and we won’t be coming looking for you. So, what’s the point in leaving it in?” He said honestly and the pack all gaped at him, “What? Am I wrong?” 

“No, no, you’re not wrong.” Noah agreed. “Alright, so, how do we take it out? It’s not like the implant is it?” 

“No, no, it’s a simple tracker, about the size of a nickel, right here.” He pressed just to the right of his sternum, at the edge of the bullet scar. “I can get it out easily enough.” He said, standing up and moving towards the kitchen, grabbing a knife from the kitchen drawer. 

“Woah! Wait! Stiles stop! What the hell are you doing!?” Cora shouted. 

“Getting the tracker out?” Stiles replied in confusion. 

“By stabbing yourself!” Lydia scolded. 

“Well, you see, the tracker is under my skin, which means I need to break the skin to get it out.” He said with amusement and the pack all looked at him like he was insane. “Don’t worry, but maybe stay back, because of the blood and stuff.” He said, moving the knife and digging it in to his chest, grimacing slightly as his blood spilled down his chest, he made the incision about two inches long, gritting his teeth to stop himself from crying out in pain, he put the knife down on the side and blew out a heavy breath, steeling his nerves, he reached up and dug his fingers in to the wound, slamming his other hand down on the kitchen counter to keep himself upright when his legs threatened to buckle. He felt his fingertips brush the edge of the tracker and he inserted them just a little further, trying to keep his muscles relaxed even though he was biting his lip to stop himself from screaming, he managed to get a hold of the tracker and pulled viciously, ripping the tracker from his chest, unable to stop the groan of pain he let out at the movement. Derek and his dad were at his side in an instant as Stiles dropped the bloodstained tracker on to the counter in front of him.

“Are you okay?” Isaac asked. 

“Watch out for the blood.” Stiles said, healing the cut on his chest and moving to wipe away the blood on the counter. 

“I’ve got it, don’t worry.” Peter said, grabbing a cloth and wiping away the spilled blood, throwing the cloth in the bin and washing his hands thoroughly to get rid of any remains of Stiles’ blood, wanting to make sure that none of them were exposed accidently. 

“Thanks.” Stiles muttered, moving back to the living room and settling back into the cushions on the floor, “Alright, let me try again.” He said, closing his eyes and concentrating on his breathing, he felt his magic spark into life and begin to heal the scar tissue that caused him such pain, the whole reason he was doing this to begin with. 

Derek watched with fascination as some of the deeper scars seem to fade just slightly, barely noticeable in the scheme of things, he moved across the room, studying Stiles’ chest in silence, hoping not to distract Stiles from whatever it was he was doing. The triskelion was still dark black against his skin, the scar where the bullet had struck him reduced slightly, as if it was no longer as deep as it had been, but, other than that, there didn’t seem to be any difference. Stiles exhaled opening his eyes and looking down at his body hesitantly, stilling slightly in shock when he saw that there was barely any change in his scars. 

“Oh.” Stiles said in disappointment, “Well, I guess,” He rolled his shoulders, stretching slightly, “I don’t hurt anymore, so that’s good. I mean, yeah I wanted the scars to go, but I’ll settle for not being in pain anymore, guess you guys are going to have to get used to me looking like this.” He said sadly, reaching and grabbing his shirt to pull it back on. 

“There’s nothing wrong with the way you look Stiles.” Derek said rolling his eyes. 

“Sure, of course there’s not.” Stiles replied sarcastically. “Anyway, the fact I’m not hurting is good. I can’t do anything else about them, so I’ll just have to deal with them, it was a long shot anyway, it wasn’t like I expected it to work, so, the fact it’s worked as much as it has is great, so, yeah, this is good, anyway, I have some homework to do before school tomorrow, so I should probably get started on that.” He said, moving upstairs to grab his school bag. As soon as he was in his bedroom he took a shaky breath, of course he hadn’t expected it to work, but, he’d sort of hoped that it would, that he would be able to take his shirt off without people staring at his scars, that although he would never be anywhere near as ripped as the wolves, that he wouldn’t just be the pale, broken, scarred one that stood next to them. It was vanity. Pure and simple. He knew that, he knew he was being stupid and vain and self-centred, but he couldn’t help it, he just wanted to look normal. He didn’t need to look buff and tanned and gorgeous like all the wolves did. He just wanted to look like a normal person. 

Noah went up the stairs a few minutes after Stiles, wanting to give him some privacy, but also able to smell the disappointment Stiles felt the instant he realised it hadn’t worked. Derek had stood up, as if to go after Stiles, and Noah had waved him away, he was Stiles’ parent, he had to show him that it didn’t matter, no matter what Stiles looked like, if he had scars or not, he was his son and he would love him for the rest of his life. 

“Stiles? Kiddo?” Noah knocked on the door and opened it a crack, seeing Stiles stood by his bed, a book in his hands, turning to look at his dad with tears in his eyes. 

“It’s not like I expected it to work.” Stiles said, his voice cracking and Noah moved towards him, pulling him in to a tight hug.

“It’s okay kiddo, it’s okay.” Noah tried to reassure him. 

“No it’s not. It’s not. I didn’t ask for any of this! I didn’t ask to have these stupid bindings or any of the crap that Kate and Gerard put me through! I didn’t ask to have magic! I didn’t ask to be in this crappy situation! All I wanted was to graduate high school and not be a complete loser! I just wanted to be normal! And I’ll never get that, I’ll never be normal. I just, I just want to not look I the mirror and see this…this broken thing looking back at me.” Stiles sobbed into Noah’s shoulder. 

“You’re not broken Stiles. You’re the strongest person I know. There’s nothing broken about you, kiddo. I wish I could be as strong as you are. I wish I could be half the person you are.” Noah replied. 

“How can you say that? How can you look at me and not think I’m broken? Look at this dad. Look at these scars! Look at what I’ve been through and it’ll never go away, I just…I know it was stupid, but, I just thought…I thought if the scars went away then maybe I could convince myself that it was over, that I’d be able to forget…” Stiles trailed off as he burst into a fresh round of tears. 

“Stiles, Mischief, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wish it had worked for you kiddo, because that’s what you wanted, but you are not broken, these scars do not make you broken. They make you strong. They make you a survivor,” Noah paused, pulling away from Stiles slightly to look him in the eyes, “You survived her Stiles. You survived Kate. You survived Gerard. You survived having an implant removed that has killed literally everyone else that has been on the receiving end of it. You are not broken Stiles. You won’t ever be broken. You know why?” Stiles wiped at the tears on his cheeks and shook his head silently, “Because you are strong. You have the best bits of me and your mom. Your mom would be so god damn proud of you. She was almost as stubborn as you, maybe not quite as much, but not far off, but I think you got my determination too, so you never really stood a chance. And god, she would love to see you all grown up, she is probably watching over us right now, and she is probably raging at me for failing to make you see that you are the most incredible person, magic or no magic, scars or no scars. You are my son. Our son. And we are so proud Mischief. So proud of you. You are not broken; you are a survivor Stiles. You always have been. Ever since you were little. When you fell down, you got back up. When you fell off your bike, you picked yourself up and got back on. You have risen to every challenge in your life Mischief, and you will continue to do so, because you don’t know how else to be. And, so what if you have a few minutes where you fall? I’ll be here to catch you, the same way I always have been, while you need me. And when you’re ready to get back up again, I’ll be right behind you, cheering you all the way. Okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Stiles nodded, wiping away the last of his tears, “Thanks dad, I, I love you.” 

“I love you too kiddo, more than I can ever say, and I mean it, your mom would be so proud. I am so proud of you; of the man you have become.” Noah said tearfully.

“I’m proud of you too. You know, you are a great dad, and, you are always there, I know that I’ve always got you, that you’ll have my back every step of the way, and, I couldn’t ask for a better dad, you know that, right?” Stiles said solemnly. 

“Yeah, I know kid. So, are you ready to get on with your homework now? Or do you need a few minutes?” Noah asked and Stiles swiped again at his cheeks before grabbing his bag. 

“Nah, I’m good. Let’s do some maths and get me graduated.” Stiles said, his voice still cracking slightly with emotion. Noah rested an arm around his shoulders, giving him a quick squeeze of reassurance before heading back downstairs to the rest of the pack. 

Stiles wasn’t sure how much they had heard but judging by some of the looks in their eyes, he knew they must have heard some of it. Scott opened his mouth to speak but Stiles just shook his head silently, if Sam hadn’t heard his breakdown then he wasn’t going to let him know about it now. He settled on the floor next to Sam and pulled his books from his bag. 

“So, what homework are you doing tonight?” He asked Sam who shrugged. 

“I don’t really feel like doing homework.” Sam replied. 

“Me neither. But we don’t want you getting in to trouble tomorrow, do we? So, maybe we do a bit together? How’s that sound?” Stiles suggested. 

“Fine.” Sam pouted, disappearing upstairs to grab his own bag and reappearing a few moments later, he sat back down next to Stiles, pulling out his book and beginning his homework, sighing heavily as he did so, Stiles ruffled his hair affectionately and Derek felt his heart skip at the sight. Stiles was so good with Sam, and he didn’t even seem to realise it, the knowledge that Stiles thought he was broken just because he had scars made Derek grimace, but, he didn’t know how to help, he wished that Stiles’ magic had been able to heal his scars, not for any other reason than they bothered Stiles, Derek didn’t care, one way or the other, Stiles was still attractive, incredibly attractive, and Derek knew there was nothing Stiles could ever do for Derek to not find him attractive, but, it wasn’t like he could say that, not without freaking Stiles out, not without abusing his position as the person who Stiles had to listen to. 

They all headed up to bed not long after Stiles had finished his homework, Derek and Stiles both sitting in with Sam until he fell asleep to the sound of Stiles’ voice, and then left his room, stopping in the doorway to glance at each other uncertainly. 

“So…would you like me to come sleep in with you still? I know you won’t get cold anymore, but, the nightmares?” Derek asked quietly. 

“Yeah, they haven’t gone away unfortunately.” Stiles said bitterly, “Yeah, if you don’t mind, it’d be good to wake up from them.” 

“Okay, sure, let me get changed and I’ll be there in a minute.” Derek replied as Stiles nodded and moved to his own room. 

It took a long time for Derek to get to sleep that night, feeling the warmth of Stiles only inches away from him. He knew Stiles wasn’t sleeping either, not from the way his heart was beating just a little too quickly, Derek wasn’t sure why and he wasn’t sure what to say to help Stiles go to sleep, instead he just lay there, throwing a hand over his eyes and trying to forget about the fact that Stiles was lay in the bed right next to him. 

Stiles woke up to sunlight coming through a crack in the curtains, he didn’t remember falling asleep, he’d been exhausted, but his mind had been spinning with so many thoughts he hadn’t been able to shut off, he knew he’d lay there for half the night, thinking about how the implant would never be able to influence him again, thinking that the only person in the world who would be able to tell him what to do was Derek. He knew that wasn’t a bad thing, not really, not in comparison. He really hoped Derek had learned from his mistakes and would never purposefully order Stiles to do something he didn’t want to, but there was a nagging doubt in his mind, what if Derek was outnumbered? What if Stiles wasn’t there and Derek called him and ordered him to save the pack instead of helping him? The problem was that Derek was a self-sacrificing idiot and Stiles knew that if it came down to it, Derek would do everything he could to save Stiles and the pack, including ordering Stiles to run when it would be the last thing he would ever do. The more he’d thought about it the more he’d decided that no matter what, they had to break the bindings. He cared about Derek, and he was confident that he’d never order Stiles deliberately again, but, in a life or death scenario, Derek would always sacrifice himself, and, Stiles just couldn’t allow that. 

“Morning.” Derek said groggily from next to him and Stiles grunted in reply. He was still half asleep, and although he had slept through without any nightmares, he knew he couldn’t have had more than an hour or two of sleep and he was exhausted. 

“I want to break the bindings.” Stiles said as Derek sat up as if to get out of bed, he turned and looked over his shoulder at Stiles. 

“Okay? We’re trying Stiles. I know it’s taking time, but, I promise, we’ll find something eventually.” 

“I know. I just, I wanted to tell you. I was thinking about it last night, that being bound to you, it’s not the worst thing in the world, that I could live with it. But, then I started thinking about all the what if situations, and, I want to break the bindings, no matter what, if I have to bleed to break them, then so be it. I just, it’s not that you’re not a good person, because you are. But I don’t want to answer to anyone, regardless of if it’s you or some other master who kills you and takes me. I want to be free to make my own decisions without anyone being able to overrule me. Okay?” Stiles explained. 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it Stiles. I mean, not so much the whole if you have to bleed thing, I’d much prefer that didn’t happen. But, if being free means that much to you, then, no matter what, we’ll break them. I’ll find a way to break them and I’ll free you. No matter what. I promise you. I won’t stop until we find a way to make sure you never answer to anyone again.” Derek said solemnly. 

“Okay good.” Stiles agreed, throwing back the covers and climbing out of the bed, heading for the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready for the day. 

Derek couldn’t stop thinking about what Stiles had said over the next few days, he knew Stiles was right, he knew how he would feel, not having a choice when somebody forced him to do something, if he had no choice in the matter. No. Stiles was right. Whatever it took, he would do it, if it meant Stiles was free. Providing he didn’t have to hurt Stiles to free him, that wasn’t something he was willing to do under any circumstances.

He was caught off guard one morning when he went into the kitchen and heard Stiles humming along to the song on the radio as he made breakfast. Derek observed him for a few moments, before Stiles became aware of his presence, he looked happy, content, a small smile on his lips, bacon sizzling in the pan in front of him, Stiles was humming along to the song, his lips opening in time to the lyrics, even if no sound came out and he just looked happy. Derek longed to hear him sing again, the way he used to when he thought nobody was listening, he missed the sound of Stiles singing to himself. Derek thought back to the day that they had freed Stiles from Kate, how he had told them all that he wished he was dead, that he wished it was over. He knew sometimes that Stiles felt that he wasn’t getting any better, that his nightmares were still plaguing him and he was still bound to someone, even if it wasn’t Kate, and that his life wasn’t his own, but looking at him now, Derek hoped that wishing for death was a long way off for Stiles. He wished he could put the images side by side, of Stiles on that day and of Stiles today, it would show Stiles clearly just how far he had come. 

Derek had been reading as many books as he could whenever he had a moment spare, but at the same time, his own work was piling up, it was why he’d dedicated himself to spending the day in his office today, going through emails and finishing off some of the plans he’d been working on for a while. He knew he’d been putting things off the past few weeks; Stiles’ safety had been the priority for him, but now he needed to prioritize his work if he wanted to keep his job. 

“Damn it.” He muttered under his breath when he saw an email from one of the clients requesting a meeting with him. The last thing he wanted to do was go to New York, not when it meant leaving the pack, he knew he’d done it before, but this was different, leaving Stiles felt wrong, not when there was a chance something could happen to him, what if Derek left and someone attacked Stiles and some order that he didn’t know about would stop Stiles from protecting himself or protecting the pack. 

He was still thinking about what to do by the time they were sat eating dinner and it was obvious that they were all picking up on the fact he was deep in thought. 

“Everything okay Derek?” Cora asked eventually and Derek pursed his lips, sighing heavily. 

“I’ve got to go for a meeting in New York, it’s a big client, a lot of money, I can’t really not go.” Derek said. 

“Why wouldn’t you go?” Stiles asked in confusion. 

“Well, um, I don’t know, it doesn’t really feel right, going when, well, erm, when you might…” Derek stammered. 

“Don’t worry about me dude. I’m pretty sure I can handle a few days without you. Besides, you shouldn’t let worrying about me effect your work. I don’t want to get you in to trouble. And, really, you’re going to leave, go to your meeting, and then probably head straight back here, or, maybe stop the night and head home in the morning. If I can’t survive without you for twenty-four hours, then there is literally no hope for me.” Stiles said rolling his eyes. 

“It’s not just you, there’s the rest of the pack to consider…”

“And we’ve all been fine every other time you’ve gone for a meeting.” Lydia said. 

“Yeah, but this is different, this is the first time I’ve had to leave since…” Derek started. 

“Dude. Relax. We’ll all be fine. Your job is important. Just go have your stupid meeting and get home again. Simple. No need to give yourself wrinkles over it.” Stiles shrugged, moving to the sink to start washing his plate, “So, when are you leaving?” 

“Um, I guess, I’ll arrange the meeting for Friday, depending on what time they can do, either head out Thursday night and be home late Friday, or leave first thing Friday and be home early Saturday.” Derek replied. 

“Okay, cool man.” Stiles said, taking Sam’s plate from him and washing it while Sam grabbed a dishtowel and started to dry the clean dishes. 

Derek agreed to meet with the client Friday afternoon, meaning that he’d be away from the pack Friday night, he was trying not to worry, he knew they were all capable of looking after themselves, and he knew Stiles was more than capable of looking after all of them, still, it felt wrong leaving him, leaving them. 

He spent the next few days preparing the final plans to show the client, he was nervous, not because of the meeting, he’d done enough of them to know he could convince the client and any other investors that these plans were great and he’d be able to do it with his eyes closed. He was nervous because his wolf really didn’t want to leave his pack or Stiles, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to cope being away from them for any length of time. 

“We’ll be fine Der, stop worrying.” Stiles said when Derek climbed out of Stiles’ bed in the early hours of Friday morning. Derek had woken Stiles a few minutes before when he’d started to have a nightmare, and he knew Stiles wouldn’t be going back to sleep now, it only made sense that he got up to start his trip. He knew Stiles was right, that they would all be fine, there was no point in worrying, he’d leave, attend the meeting, and be home tomorrow morning. Worrying about Stiles and the pack wouldn’t make any difference, he would just have to trust that everything would be fine, and if it wasn’t, Stiles would be more than capable than taking care of any threat. 

“If anything happens, just, call me. I’ll be on the next flight home.” Derek said and Stiles rolled his eyes in amusement. 

“You’re not even going to be gone twenty-four hours Derek. The next flight home will probably be your flight anyway.” Stiles teased and Derek laughed. 

“Alright, fine. I’ll be back in the morning. Will you tell the others I said bye? I don’t want to wake them up unnecessarily?” Derek asked. 

“Yeah, sure thing dude. And you’ll be careful? And let us know once you arrive?” Stiles said and Derek raised his eyebrows incredulously, “What? You think you’re the only one allowed to worry?” Stiles said and Derek laughed. 

“No, no, of course not. It just caught me off guard. Yeah, I’ll definitely be careful, and I’ll call once I get to the apartment, if that’ll make you feel better.” He said and Stiles nodded simply. 

“Cool. Safe trip dude. See you tomorrow.” Stiles replied, Derek could tell he was trying to sound nonchalant, but from the beating of his heart, it was obvious Stiles was nervous about Derek leaving. 

“Okay, see you tomorrow Mischief.” Derek said as he moved towards the door, smirking at the way that Stiles gaped at him in surprise, he loved that he knew Stiles’ real name, he really loved that he got to catch Stiles by surprise, it was Stiles’ shocked face, eyes going wide with amazement, that Derek memorised as he left the room and headed down the stairs to his car. He would be back in twenty-four hours. The pack would be fine until then. 

Stiles really hated that Derek was gone, he tried not to think about it, he kept telling himself it was only twenty-four hours, but, the thought that Derek would already be on a plane, flying half way across the country, god, he missed him already. Instead he tried to keep himself busy, making sure Sam got up and ready for school, that all his homework was done, that he had a packed lunch, while Stiles went through his own homework and grabbed some food for lunch later, even if his stomach was in such knots that he didn’t know if he’d be able to stomach food. 

The rain started before they’d even left the house, coming down so hard and fast that it was almost impossible to see the cars in the driveway. Stiles knew his magic was at least partially responsible but he couldn’t control it enough to stop the rain and he didn’t really want to, it reflected his mood, Stiles didn’t want to stop it, he hated that Derek wasn’t here and he liked that the weather reflected that. 

He dropped Sam off at school, watching as he ran through the rain to the main doors, meeting with his friends and disappearing into the school, he sighed heavily, ignoring the pat on his shoulder from Erica which he guessed was supposed to comfort him, he shrugged her hand off a moment later, grinning fondly at her, determined not to think about Derek until he was home tomorrow. 

The rain didn’t let up, it continued to pound down, filling the rivers, turning the ground to mud beneath their feet, with no sign of it relenting. Stiles watched it smash into the windows with enough force that the glass shook in the panes and the clouds rolled angrily in the sky above them. 

Stiles and the pack were all too distracted to notice that Theo had been hovering nearby for most of the day, making sure he kept enough distance not to attract attention, but that he was close enough to pick up on their conversation. As soon as he heard that Derek had left town, and was due back tomorrow, he knew the plan was in place, now he just needed to let the others know. 

He headed out to his car, ignoring the rain that soaked through his coat, pulling his phone out and dialling the number he knew by heart. 

“Hello?” 

“It’s me. It’s worked. Derek has left town. He’s alone. The rest of them are here.” Theo explained. 

“Good, just like we planned. And, you’re certain they are researching something?” The man replied. 

“Yes, I don’t know what, but they’ve obviously got some kind of problem.” 

“Good, that’ll lure him to us. Once the Alpha is dead, we’ll come for the rest of them. Keep an eye on them, make sure they don’t see you.” 

“I will do.” Theo paused, “Sir, one thing.” 

“What?” The voice snapped. 

“There’s a human with them. He used to be part of the pack, then he left town. Nobody really knows what happened to him, other than the pack, but there’s rumours. Anyway, there’s something off about him, I’m not sure what, but, I’m not one hundred percent sure that he is completely human.” Theo advised. 

“We’ll deal with whatever he is once the Alpha is dead. Whatever it is, he won’t be any match for us.” The man said with a finality before the call cut off abruptly. Theo sat in his car for a moment, a smirk on his lips, in a few hours Derek would be dead, this time tomorrow, the pack would know about it, would suffer from it, and Theo would crush Stiles, he’d make him pay for humiliating him, in fact, he might even keep him alive after the rest of the pack were slaughtered, just to watch him break. 

Derek’s meeting went as well as he had expected it too, it was longer than he’d hoped, as part of him had wanted to fly home tonight, and it was obvious now that it wasn’t going to happen. The positive was that the client was happy and wanted to move forwards with Derek’s plans, which meant a happy client and a nice five-digit bonus for securing the deal for Derek. He was actually quite proud of himself, managing to achieve keeping the client happy in amongst everything else that had been going on in his life. 

He’d headed back to the small apartment, planning to take a long bath and then sleep until his alarm would go off in the early hours to catch his flight home, except, he’d barely dumped his bag on the floor as he entered the apartment when his phone chimed with an incoming message, he moved to the end of the sofa, sitting down as he pulled out his phone, fully expecting it to be from one of the pack. 

‘If you want help with your little problem, you should come to Unique Pleasure off Park Avenue. Get access all areas and I’ll tell you how to solve your situation.’ 

Derek read the text over and over. He had no idea who it had come from, when he rang the number, nobody answered. His problem, his situation. Someone knew about Stiles and the bindings, they had to. It was the only explanation. He didn’t know what to do, it felt wrong, to go out when all he wanted to do was get back to his pack, but, if someone knew how to break the bindings, he couldn’t miss that chance, could he? He couldn’t ignore it, not if it meant that he could finally free Stiles. He had to go. There was no other choice. 

He had a quick shower, throwing on a change of clothes and headed off to the club, hesitating when he arrived outside, the long line outside was heaving with supernatural creatures and he cursed under his breath. He should have realised this was a supernatural club, there were enough of them in the city, but it meant that there would be a catch to coming here, there usually was. Regardless, Derek got in the queue, waiting patiently until it was his turn to enter. 

“I need an access all areas.” He said to the woman behind the counter, ignoring the two bouncers that looked at him with amusement from either side. 

“No problem. Sign here.” She said holding out several sheets of papers, Derek looked at them in surprise, he’d thought he was going to have to pay extra, not sign something. 

“What’s this for?” He asked quietly.

“It says that you have access to all areas of the club, in addition, it also states, that if the owner should choose you for the night, you legally agree to any charms he may put on you.” She said simply. 

“Charms?” Derek said, feeling slightly nauseous. 

“Do you even know what this place is?” She said, rolling her eyes. 

“I…um…it’s a club?” Derek stammered. 

“Run by an incubus. One with a healthy appetite I might add. If you want access all areas, you have to accept his terms, which means that if he picks you and decides to fuck you into the mattress, which, why wouldn’t he? I mean, I want to and I’m not even a sex demon. It means you then can’t cry rape or say you didn’t want it. You sign your name; you’re giving him permission. If he wants to.” She explained. 

“And, um, what kind of other areas do I get access to that I wouldn’t without it?” Derek asked. 

“The wolfsbane alcohol for one, it’ll give you a bit of a kick which nothing else will.” She commented, “Plus the back rooms where you can go if you like a private dance, or the side rooms, if you just want to let your wild side out. The standard access, gives you access to the main bar and dance floor. The choice is yours but be quick about it, I’ve got a queue behind you.” 

“Um, right,” Derek thought back to the text, looking at the papers in front of him, if it meant he might find a way to free Stiles, it was worth it. He took a breath before scrawling his signature at the bottom of the paper and handing it back to her. 

“Great. Here you go sweetie.” She said, handing him a neon wristband and watching as he fastened it to his wrist, “It’s charmed too, it won’t come undone until you leave the club so don’t try taking it off. Enjoy yourself! Next!” She called loudly over his shoulder and Derek moved sideways, going through the door that one of the bouncers held open for him, a wide smirk on his lips as Derek kept his gaze to the ground, he really didn’t want to be here. 

Stiles was sat watching television with the rest of the pack, ignoring the rain that still pounded in to the windows, he had tried to calm himself down during the day, count down the hours until Derek was pack with the pack, until he knew that he was safe, that they were all back together and everything was okay, no matter how many times Scott and the others had tried to reassure him throughout the day, he didn’t think he’d be able to relax until Derek was back. Still, the more time that passed, as the night grew darker and the rain continued, Stiles couldn’t help but think that something was wrong. He could feel it, almost like a pain in his chest, he was almost certain that something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. 

“Stiles? Man? You zoned out on me there.” Danny said and Stiles looked at him guiltily. 

“Sorry. I was just…thinking.” Stiles replied, pursing his lips in annoyance because something felt wrong. He closed his eyes, allowing his magic to spread outwards, not expecting to feel anything other than his pack, he stilled the instant he sensed another presence, a werewolf, just outside the house, hidden in the treeline, but still close enough to hear their conversations. 

Stiles reacted instantly, snatching a piece of paper and scrawling a message on it to the pack. 

‘Theo is here. He’s listening.’ Stiles warned. Everyone went still, all conversation stopping as they took in this new evidence. 

‘What do we do?’ Isaac wrote in reply. 

‘Act normal. I’ll sneak out the back door and freeze him.’

‘And let him find out you have magic!?’ Lydia wrote hurriedly. ‘No. Jackson, Boyd, Isaac and Noah, take the tunnel out. Surround him. Quietly. He tries to run. Pin him down. The rest of us, carry on talking. Don’t let him know we’re on to him.’

“So do you have plans for next weekend?” Danny asked and Stiles looked at him startled, “Only, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to the cinema with me?” 

“Um, I guess, we could make it like a pack outing?” Stiles replied, realising that Danny was trying to keep up a normal conversation as Stiles watched Jackson, Boyd, Isaac and his dad all head for the exits.

“I was thinking just me and you actually. Like a date.” 

“Sorry, what?” Stiles said distractedly, still watching as the others slipped stealthily into the basement without a sound, a few minutes and they’d be able to surround Theo without any issue. 

“A date Stiles. I’m asking you out on a date.” Danny clarified and Stiles turned to gape at him, aware of the rest of the room staring at Danny in amazement. 

“Um, like, a date date? Like, you want to date me? Seriously?” Stiles asked stunned. 

“Do you have a death wish?” Sam muttered and Stiles looked at him in puzzlement. 

“What? I wouldn’t hurt Danny.” Stiles said feeling suddenly sick, did Sam think that Stiles would kill someone he dated? 

“I wasn’t meaning you.” Sam said darkly and Stiles scrunched his nose up in confusion, running a hand over his forehead, he didn’t know what the hell was going on and now really wasn’t the time to try and figure it out. 

“Look, can we maybe talk about this some other time? You know, when there’s not other situations that need our attention.” He said as calmly as he could before Danny shrugged casually, as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the other. 

Stiles let the others carry on the conversation without him, his involvement done. He couldn’t string two words together even if he tried, the sense that something was very wrong was getting stronger by the second and he was straining desperately to hear what was going on outside. Instead, he pushed his magic outwards, closing his eyes and concentrating on the auras he felt, relaxing just slightly when he felt the four members closing in on Theo rapidly. 

“They’ve got him.” Boyd said a moment later and everyone scrambled to their feet, running outside and meeting up with the rest of the pack, the trees giving them just a little bit of relief from the rain that fell relentlessly. 

“What are you doing here Theo?” Lydia quizzed dangerously. 

“I was just out for a stroll.” Theo replied. 

“You’re lying. What are you doing here?” Lydia repeated. “Tell us now or things are going to get really bad for you.” She threatened. 

“Maybe I just wanted to listen in on what a real pack sounded like.” Theo said calmly. 

“Still lying.” Erica snarled. “I say we just kill him now.” 

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Theo muttered. 

“And why’s that?” Cora said with an arched eyebrow. 

“Your brother. That’s why.” Theo replied and everyone stilled. 

“Derek? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cora said, grabbing Theo by the shirt and slamming him into the nearest tree. “What have you done to him?”

“I haven’t done anything. But if anything happens to me, he won’t be coming back from New York.” Theo warned.

“What?” Peter whispered looking horror-struck. 

“Guys, relax, this is Derek we’re on about. He’s capable of taking care of himself. He knows how to look after himself. He’ll be fine.” Scott said. 

“Against an Alpha pack? You think he can take on a pack of Alphas and survive?” Theo laughed mockingly and everyone paled, all looking panicked. 

“An Alpha pack? THE Alpha pack? They’re behind this?” Erica muttered. 

“What Alpha pack?” Stiles asked. 

“A pack made up of Alphas, Derek scared them off before.” Isaac informed him.

“You didn’t honestly think they would stay gone? Deucalion warned you that you best watch your backs. If you were stupid enough to forget that warning then that’s your own fault, and, it looks like your Alpha is going to be the one to pay the price.” Theo said. 

Stiles already had his phone in his hand, dialling Derek’s number and cursing when it went to voicemail, it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, they needed to get to him. 

“Alright, so he’s not answering. That doesn’t mean anything. We’d all feel the bond break if he was dead.” Lydia tried to reassure them but it didn’t work. 

“Bond?” Theo asked in confusion but Lydia ignored him, it was obvious the guy had no idea what they meant by bond, never mind what it meant if it were to break.

“Great, so we’re supposed to be able to relax because at least he’s not dead yet! Fantastic idea!” Cora said angrily.

“All I’m saying is we have time to stop them.” Lydia tried. 

“How?” Sam said sounding terrified, “Derek’s on the other side of the country, how are we going to get to him in time?” 

“Sam, it’s going to be fine.” Noah tried to reassure the kid, glancing across at Stiles who seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. 

Stiles couldn’t breathe, his heart felt like it was going to beat straight out of his chest, it felt like his lungs weren’t working, that he wouldn’t be able to gulp in enough oxygen to keep breathing. But none of that mattered. Not really. All he could think about was that Derek was in danger, Derek was across the country and about to be attacked by a pack of Alphas, and none of them could do anything, they couldn’t warn him, he wasn’t answering his phone, what if they had already taken Derek? What if they were holding him prisoner? Torturing him before they finally killed him? Stiles couldn’t take it, he couldn’t lose Derek, he couldn’t let him die, he had to do something, there had to be something he could do, he couldn’t just let this happen. 

“Stiles, what the hell?” Allison said, obviously startled. 

“What the fuck is he doing!?” Theo said in fear, staring at Stiles who seemed to be glowing, in fact, the longer Theo looked at him, the more Stiles seemed to be glowing, until there was a faint golden mist filling the air around him and it was only getting brighter. 

“Stiles, calm down, take a breath, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay, we’ll find a way to help him, just, calm down.” Noah tried to reassure him but Stiles couldn’t think, couldn’t even hear his dad’s voice, there was only one thought running over and over in his head and that was that Derek was in danger and he had to get to him, he had to save him. He could feel a faint pain in his chest, like a pressure was building, he could feel his magic was just as agitated as he was, that Derek was in danger, that it was life and death, he had to get there, he had to save him, he had to stop the Alphas. There was no choice in it. He had to. He scrunched his eyes closed, thinking that if he somehow concentrated enough Derek would know that he was in danger, that he would know something was wrong and would run away from wherever the hell he was. All the time the pressure in his chest was building but Stiles ignored it, the only thing he could think about was that he was going to lose Derek, Derek was going to die and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. A moment later the pressure exploded, Stiles felt like his insides were on fire, like everything was going to burn and disintegrate in to nothingness, he thought he might have been screaming but he couldn’t hear it, maybe because his ears had already melted, he didn’t know, he didn’t care, it hurt so much, more than practically anything else he had ever experienced, and then, in an instant, it stopped. 

Stiles blinked his eyes open slowly, expecting to see the pack all staring at him in confusion, instead, he was stood in the middle of a sidewalk and he definitely wasn’t in Beacon Hills anymore. 

“Are you coming in?” A man’s voice said from his right and Stiles turned to look at him, blinking a few times to take in his surroundings, he was stood outside a club from the looks of things and the bouncer obviously hadn’t noticed the fact that Stiles had just appeared out of thin air. He heard his phone ringing and reached for it with numb fingers. 

“Hello?” Stiles said, his voice hoarse, maybe he had been screaming. 

“Stiles! Oh thank god! Where are you? What happened?” His dad sounded panicked, terrified even and Stiles was so confused, where was he? What was he doing here? How did he get here?

“I…um…I don’t know where I am.” He muttered quietly, “What happened?” 

“You don’t know where you are…” Noah said in exasperation, “I don’t know, you started to glow and then you just vanished on the spot, we’re going out of our minds here kiddo, Scott’s going to track your phone now and we’ll come get you. Okay, just, stay on the phone, are you okay? Do you feel okay?” 

“Yeah, I mean, I feel, my magic is a lot lower than it was, like I’ve done some big spell or something, which, I think I’ve teleported, so, that would explain that…” Stiles whispered, aware of the bouncer only a few feet away, he was feeling a little light headed as he tried to gather himself, he was freaking out, they should be concentrating on Derek and instead everyone was trying to figure out where the hell Stiles was. 

“Stiles…” Scott’s voice came over the phone and he sounded stunned, “Stiles, you won’t believe this, but, dude, your phone says you’re in New York.” 

“What?” Stiles muttered in disbelief. “That’s, erm, that’s not possible. I can’t teleport, never mind teleport like two and a half thousand kilometres, okay, I mean, I did teleport, somewhere, but I can’t be in New York. That’s insane.” 

“Well, that’s what your phone says.” Scott replied, “And...dude!” He said excitedly, “Oh my god... Derek’s phone, it’s like, basically in exactly the same spot, you must be standing literally on top of him!” 

“What!?” Cora screeched excitedly, “Stiles! You have to find him! You have to stop them! Go, go, go, find him.” Cora shouted and Stiles looked around him, certain that Derek had to be just out of eyesight, his gaze fell again on the club that he was stood outside and his mind clicked into place, he ran forward, glad there was no queue as he moved past the bouncer and to the entrance desk just inside the doorway. 

“Good evening sir and welcome to Unique Pleasure. Do you want standard access or access all areas?” The woman asked and Stiles froze. 

“Um, I don’t know?” Stiles replied. 

“Get the access all areas!” Peter shouted, “Derek could be anywhere.” 

“Right, right, yeah, access all areas please.” Stiles said, praying he had enough cash in his pockets, surprised when she didn’t ask for money but instead handed him a few pieces of paper. 

“Great, I’ll just need you to sign here please.” She said and Stiles gritted his teeth in frustration, he needed to get in there, he needed to find Derek, he scrawled his signature at the bottom of the page, going to move into the club when the woman held up a neon band, “You’ll need to wear this at all times otherwise you won’t have access.” 

“Okay, yeah, sure, okay.” He said, clipping it around his wrist and moving his phone back to his ear. 

“You’ll lose signal as soon as you go through the door.” She commented and Stiles cursed, on the one hand it meant that Derek was most likely definitely in there, the downside was that he wouldn’t be able to tell the pack what was happening. 

“I’ll call you as soon as I’ve found him.” He said before disconnecting the call and hurrying into the club. 

Derek stood by the bar surveying the scene in front of him, he had no idea who he was supposed to be looking for, he’d already done a walk through the entire club, including the side and back rooms, he’d tried to keep an eye out for anyone looking at him, but he’d changed his mind once he’d made eye contact with a couple of people who he’d recognised from his previous times out in New York. As soon as they’d approached him, he’d turned and walked in the opposite direction, he wasn’t here to hook up with anyone, he was here to find out how to free Stiles. The downside to the club being full of supernatural creatures was that their scents were all overpowering, he knew there were other wolves in here, he knew there were even other Alphas in here, but if they were all here to party, he couldn’t exactly get territorial over other Alphas being in a neutral zone. 

He had wandered around for a good hour, determined to wait and find out what information this mystery person could possibly have to help Stiles, he’d been about to call it a night when he’d turned around and found himself face to face with three smirking Alphas. 

“Derek, a pleasure to see you.” Deucalion greeted as Kali and Ennis moved in on either side of him, Derek paled, whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this, he was surrounded by the Alpha pack and he knew there was no way he was walking out of this club alive. “I’m so glad you got my message.” Deucalion grinned and Derek grimaced, he’d been so stupid, he never should have come here and now he was going to die. 

“Deucalion.” Derek replied as calmly as he could manage. “Where are the other two? Hiding somewhere?” He said, glancing around to see if he could see Ethan and Aiden. 

“No. They’re dead in a ditch somewhere. We had to kill them unfortunately, they went soft on us, not wanting to kill humans. It was a necessity.” Deucalion shrugged as if killing members of his pack was no big deal, Derek was disgusted by him, unable to believe that even his own pack weren’t safe from him, “Come, let’s have a seat.” Deucalion continued, gesturing to an empty booth nearby, Derek was sure that if he sat in that booth, he would never stand up again, his heart was racing uncomfortably fast in his chest, he couldn’t believe he’d been such an idiot, he should have known it was a trap, he should have thought about what it meant, and now he was going to die and it was his own fault. He just wished he wasn’t about to die in a club in the middle of New York surrounded by strangers, he’d always assumed that he would go out in a blaze of glory, protecting his pack, stood at their sides, or at least in front of them, trying to protect them from whatever was coming their way. He never imagined it would be here, alone, away from those he loved the most, he looked around the room, taking it in, trying not to feel disappointed that he would never get to see his pack again, that he wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye, he wouldn’t get to tell Stiles how sorry he was that he’d failed him in even this. 

Derek watched with fascination as people danced wildly on the dancefloor, as people laughed and drank next to the bar, chatting to strangers and flirting openly with some of them, everything seemed to have slowed down, every heart beat seemed to drag out, he was about to die and he wanted to take it all in before he did, this wasn’t where he wanted to be, but the knowledge that this would be the last sight he would ever see, it made him drink everything in greedily. He watched the movements of those dancing, watched as one idiot even climbed up on a table, but the guy wasn’t dancing, instead he seemed to be looking for someone, Derek studied the broadness of his shoulders, the lean muscles of his body and Derek froze in shock, that wasn’t any old idiot, that was his idiot. 

Stiles cursed when he saw just how many people were in the club, he had no idea how he was supposed to find Derek in this mess, he pushed through the first few people, calling out for Derek and hoping he would hear him, within minutes he knew it was hopeless. He saw a table nearby and jumped on to it, ignoring the round of applause he got from the people surrounding him, no doubt they assumed he was drunk and about to start dancing, instead Stiles scanned the crowds, determined to find Derek. 

Something caught his attention just out of the corner of his eye and he turned, sheer relief flooding through him when he saw Derek’s gaze on him, he looked startled, no doubt unable to believe that Stiles was here, but Stiles didn’t have time to explain that, he could see three people surrounding Derek, one of them gripping his arm tightly, they were evidently trying to steer him discreetly towards an empty booth and Stiles knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that they intended to kill him. He jumped forward, landing on the next table, ignoring the shouts when he caused glasses to tip sideways and spill their contents all over their owners, he kept going, never breaking eye contact with Derek, determined to get to him, he had to get to him, Derek couldn’t die, he just couldn’t.

Derek couldn’t believe his eyes, Stiles was here. He didn’t know how. He didn’t know why. All he could think was that Stiles was here and he was so goddamn glad to see him, not only because if he was going to die, then he wanted to see Stiles one last time, but, more importantly, if Stiles was here, then they stood a fighting chance. Deucalion, Ennis and Kali all turned to look at Stiles as he leaped from table to table until he landed solidly on the floor in front of them, putting himself between them and Derek as best he could, glaring at the other three Alphas with outright disgust. If they had any sense they would run, but Deucalion only tightened his hand on Derek’s arm and studied Stiles in bemusement. 

“What an entrance!” Deucalion mocked, “And who exactly would you be?” 

“Me? Your worst nightmare.” Stiles grinned, “But, for the sake of politeness, you can call me Stiles.” 

“Ah, Stiles, you’re the one I’ve heard about from young Theo. He can’t wait to make you pay for humiliating him. Now, really, I don’t blame you for doing it, he is an idiot, and, more so, if a pathetic human got the upper hand on him. But you’re interrupting our business, so, if you want to leave now, we’ll come and kill you later.” Deucalion said dismissively, already pulling Derek’s arm to drag him towards the booth. 

“You know, as awesome as that sounds,” Stiles said sarcastically, “You’re not touching him.” He said, reaching out and putting his own hand over Deucalion’s, “And if you don’t let him go right now, it’s going to end really badly for you.” He threatened, Deucalion looked at Ennis and Kali who both snorted with laughter. 

“I see why you keep him around Derek, he’s funny. Maybe we’ll keep him around once we’re done with the rest of your pack.” Kali laughed. 

“Yeah, I am funny. But that’s not all I am. So, if you want to live, you’re going to walk away from this whole situation right now.” Stiles warned. 

“You heard him.” Derek growled and they all laughed again, “Stiles, you don’t have to kill them if you don’t want to?” 

“Oh, I really fucking want to.” Stiles said, his eyes lighting up with a hint of green before all three Alpha’s were frozen in place and staring at Stiles in horror as he grabbed Deucalion’s hand and pulled it off Derek’s arm. Derek relaxed as soon as he was free, moving away from Deucalion to stand next to Stiles, checking him over to make sure he was okay, he could smell Stiles’ magic, but it was nowhere near as strong as it should be and he could actually see a bead of sweat forming at Stiles’ temple, not to mention the tremble in his fingers, it was obvious that although Stiles was holding them still, he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. 

“You have magic.” Deucalion muttered in horror. 

“Now you know why they really keep me around.” Stiles snarled angrily, “So, do you want to die? Or do you want to run away and keep running? Because if you even think about coming after Derek or any of our pack again, I will slaughter each and every one of you.” He threatened and all three of the Alpha’s looked like they were about to be sick.

“And are you willing to commit cold-blooded murder? Because that’s what this would be. And you’d be okay with that?” Ennis growled. 

“Oh, this is not cold-blooded. You planned to kill Derek. Then the pack. And I protect my pack. No matter what. If I have to kill you all then I’m more than willing to do it.” Stiles replied, Derek saw the trembling in Stiles' fingers was getting worse and he honestly wasn’t sure how much longer Stiles was going to be able to hold them. 

“Stiles, maybe we should get out of here?” Derek suggested, resting his hand on Stiles’ arm and Stiles nodded without looking away from Deucalion. 

“I bet you say that to all the guys.” Stiles muttered quietly and Derek let out a laugh of disbelief, of all the things to mention. 

“Do you want me to ask you to leave with me?” He said, dropping his voice an octave and he thought he detected a hint of heat at the back of Stiles’ neck, he couldn’t help but grin fondly, and then he remembered, he was Stiles’ master, he couldn’t flirt with him. Not when Stiles couldn’t say no. “Forget it. Come on.” He muttered.

Derek was about to lead him away, about to put some distance between them and the other Alphas so that they could get the hell out of here in one piece, instead a hush seemed to fall over everyone in the club, all of them looking towards a door that had opened a moment earlier. Derek realised instantly who the man was that was surveying the crowd in front of him, his eyes darting to their wrists to look at the bands there. Derek reached out to touch his own band and then looked to Stiles, saw the neon band fastened securely around his wrist and Derek stilled in horror. 

“Shit. We’ve got to go Stiles, we’ve got to get out of here right now.” He said, pulling off his jacket and draping it over Stiles’ arm to cover up his band. 

“What? Why? What’s happening?” Stiles said, finally looking away from Deucalion at the panic in Derek’s voice. 

“The owner is here, we need to get out of here, we can’t risk it.” Derek said, looking around and realising that nobody else was moving, if they tried to run it would only draw attention to them. 

“Risk what?” Stiles asked in confusion, he didn’t understand what Derek was panicking about or why he’d thrown his jacket over Stiles’ arm, but it was obvious that he was scared and that in itself was enough to worry Stiles. 

“Didn’t they explain it to you kid? What access all areas means? What the downside is?” Kali muttered under her breath, smirking in his direction, showing off her own bare wrist and Stiles frowned in confusion, looking at the Alpha’s who were all showing bare wrists, and Derek who was tugging on the band on his wrist and cursing when it wouldn’t come loose. 

“Hmm, I am very hungry.” The man announced to the club loudly and everyone seemed to duck their gazes as he walked past, looking at them for a moment and then at their wrists, “I fancy a three-course meal tonight, so, who is going to be my starter?” He said, walking through a crowd of people and leaning in, inhaling their scents greedily before moving on to the next person. 

“Is he going to eat them?” Stiles hissed in disgust and Derek shook his head minutely. 

“Incubus.” Derek replied under his breath and Stiles paled, looking sick, Derek moved slightly, positioning himself so that he was in front of Stiles, blocking him from view as best he could, he could feel Stiles’ breath warm on the back of his neck but he didn’t dare move, he didn’t want to draw any attention to them. 

“Oh yes, you’ll do as a nice starter, a good warm up act.” The incubus smirked, leaning in and kissing a man in the crowd, drawing him close and groping his ass as they kissed, the man tensed for a moment before he seemed to go completely lax and, when the incubus broke the kiss, the man followed after him, trailing after him like a lost puppy, it was enough to make Derek want to throw up. “Now, for my main course, who’s going to feed my hunger?” The incubus continued to walk through the room, clicking his fingers and smiling as a spotlight turned on and followed him through the room until he stopped at a man probably around Peter’s age, he glanced down at the band on the man’s wrist and smirked, “Guess you’re regretting it now.” He grinned, leaning in and kissing the man who snarled and flashed blue eyes for a second before he stilled and then returned the kiss almost hungrily, desperately. 

Derek tensed when the incubus continued on his route, he was getting closer to them and even though he knew the man only had to pick out his dessert, he was terrified that he’d be somehow able to smell Stiles’ scent and pick him and Derek wouldn’t be able to stop him. The incubus stopped at another man, only a few feet away from them and Derek held his breath, hoping against hope that he would pass them by and then they’d be able to get the hell out of here. Get back to the pack. Get home. 

“And you look absolutely delicious.” The incubus said, smiling and inhaling excitedly before he stilled and turned away from his original prey, towards them, locking eyes with Derek. 

Stiles felt Derek tense in front of him, he couldn’t see what was happening but he was sure it couldn’t be good, he wanted to lean around Derek and see what was going on, but it was obvious that Derek was trying to keep a low profile, and Stiles moving wasn’t going to help that. Derek’s armed moved backwards, as if forming a secondary barrier between Stiles and whatever was in front of him and Stiles stared at where Derek’s fingers brushed against the back of his hand, the band on his wrist almost pulsing brightly, a stark sign of what Derek and Stiles had both agreed to, albeit reluctantly. 

“And you are just perfect.” The man’s voice said from just in front of Derek and Stiles saw the muscles bunch under Derek’s shirt, “You’ll do very nicely for dessert, I’ll enjoy making you beg me to let you cum.” He said almost seductively, Derek was almost shaking in place and Stiles grabbed Derek’s hand, tugging on the band there, determined to rip it off, gritting his teeth in frustration when it barely moved the slightest bit. 

“You know, if you want to really get a treat, you should let him fuck you.” A voice called out and Stiles peeked around Derek’s shoulder to see what was happening, he was surprised to see a man, without a wristband, pointing in Derek’s direction and the incubus was looking at him with amusement. 

“Oh really? And why would I do that?” The incubus asked. 

“Are you kidding? That’s Derek Hale! He’s like the whore of New York, or he was, before he went and got all particular. Best night of my life. And that was before he became the Alpha of the Hale pack in California. I’d let him fuck me into the mattress over and over again every single night, if he ever fucked anyone for more than one night.” The man said, waving his arms wide in exaggeration, spilling his drink over the people next to him and Stiles’ eyes went wide in shock. 

“Really?” The incubus said with a raised eyebrow, turning back towards Derek, “The best night of his life?” 

“I don’t know, it wasn’t memorable for me.” Derek said almost casually.

“Don’t be shy Derek, we both know it was an amazing night.” The man called out, he was obviously drunk and Stiles actually felt pity for him, he would no doubt regret his words in the morning. 

“I’m not being shy. It just wasn’t memorable. It was just like the hundreds or thousands of other nights I had. I don’t even remember your name.” Derek snarled and the man fell silent, almost in embarrassment, before moving to the bar to get himself another drink. The incubus moved back towards Derek, a seductive smile on his lips. 

“Hundreds of other nights? Perhaps he might be right, maybe I should get you to fuck me instead.” He inhaled and smiled widely, “And you are so frustrated, I can smell it, all that sexual frustration, you’re dying to get off, I bet I could get you to cum right here and now, how long has it been Derek? How long since you last had your brains fucked out?” The incubus said, trailing a finger down Derek’s arm gently. 

Stiles had been pulling on the band around Derek’s wrist for the entire encounter, trying to block out what the incubus was saying, instead focusing on trying to snap the goddamn band and make sure that Derek wasn’t wearing the band, hoping that it would somehow dissuade the incubus from using his magic on Derek. 

“I’m going to have a good feed off you.” The incubus said, leaning in and pulling Derek into a kiss, Stiles saw Derek’s muscles tense and then a moment later he relaxed, kissing the incubus back, Derek lifted his hand up, the one that Stiles wasn’t holding on to, and wrapped it around the back of the incubus’ neck, pulling him into a kiss, Stiles felt his stomach knot uncomfortably and he wasn’t sure if it was because the incubus was clearly kissing Derek against his will, or because he couldn’t help but think how much he wanted it to be him that Derek was kissing. He didn’t even know where that thought had come from, still, the surge of jealousy in his stomach had caught him off guard and he reached for what was left of his magic without even thinking about it, snapping the band in his fingertips with ease and shoving the remains of it in to his pocket. The incubus pulled away from a Derek a moment later, resting a hand against his cheek and grinning. 

“Oh yes, I’m going to have a lot of fun with you before the night is out.” He smirked. 

“You can’t touch him.” Stiles snapped, grabbing Derek’s arm and pulling him away from the incubus, putting himself between the two of them, ignoring the way that Derek almost whined at the distance. “Take your magic off him. Now.” Stiles snarled. 

“No can do. He’s under my spell now, at least until he’s completely and utterly satisfied.” The man replied. 

“You can’t do that. He’s not wearing a band. You do anything to him, and it is rape. Everyone will know that you don’t respect your own rules. Your whole business will go under because the majority of your customers aren’t going to be coming here. Are you really going to risk it? To have him? Really?” Stiles said, showing Derek’s bare wrists as evidence to the spectators, the incubus paused, obviously assessing the sight in front of him and Stiles’ words. 

“I could have sworn I saw him wearing a band.” He said eventually and Stiles glared at him. 

“Well where is it then? They are supposed to be tamper proof, aren’t they? They can’t be taken off until you leave. Well, he’s still here and he’s not wearing one. So, he must never have been wearing one. You have no right to touch him or use your magic on him. Release him from it, right now.” Stiles ordered. 

“Fine.” The incubus said, rolling his eyes and reaching out to grab Stiles’ wrist, twisting it so that everyone could see the band clearly visible on Stiles’ wrist, “I’ll have a lot more fun with you anyway.” He said, clicking his fingers and then surging forward to pull Stiles into a kiss. 

Derek was aware of what was going on, he knew what was happening, but none of it mattered. It wasn’t important, the only thing that was important was having sex, god, he was so desperate for it, he was so horny and it had been so long and spending every night curled up against Stiles, feeling the presence of him, not able to do anything about it, the incubus had been right, he was so frustrated, he wanted to fuck Stiles so badly, but not anymore, now he wanted the man in front of him, more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life, he wanted this man to fuck him until he completely fell apart, until he couldn’t walk straight, until he couldn’t even stand. He didn’t care that Stiles was standing in front of him defensively, he didn’t care that he was arguing with the incubus for some reason, all Derek wanted was to cum, he wanted sex, he needed sex. 

The next moment the fog surrounding his brain lifted slightly, not completely, not enough to stop him almost begging for sex out loud, but it was enough for Derek to realise he never wanted that thing to touch him again, and, even more importantly, it was enough to realise that Stiles was the one now kissing the incubus instead. 

“Stop it.” Derek snarled, his eyes flashing red. 

“Sorry Alpha, he’s fair game.” The incubus said, holding up the band for everyone to see while Stiles stood next to him, his gaze fixed solidly on the man, his tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip in anticipation or nerves, he wasn’t sure which, but Derek wasn’t going to let it happen, he growled dangerously. 

“You do not touch him. He’s mine.” Derek said angrily. 

“Funny, I’m pretty sure nobody forced him to put the band on, and, he knew what he was getting in to. Don’t worry Derek, I’ll bring him back to you in one piece, once I’m done with him in the morning.” The man laughed brightly, taking Stiles’ hand and starting to move towards his room at the back of the club. 

“No! Stiles! I order you to snap out of this. Right now.” Derek commanded. 

“Good effort.” The incubus laughed, “But no Alpha’s orders can break my spell. Like I said, he’ll be returned to you once I’m done with him.” 

“Maybe an Alpha’s orders won’t.” Stiles said, his eyes flashing a hint of gold for a second as he ripped his hand away from the incubus, “But, a master’s? Yeah, that’ll do the trick.” He said, freezing the incubus in place and turning to look at Derek, “Thanks dude.” 

“Any time. Thanks too.” Derek replied. 

“You…you have a caster…bound to you?” The incubus said loudly and the entire room seemed to still, if they had been quiet with the man’s arrival, they were silent now. Nobody seemed to even breathe, and Stiles glared at the man, before turning to Derek, looking at him with grateful eyes. 

“Stiles, we should get out of here.” Derek said, taking in the look of sheer exhaustion in Stiles’ features, he had no idea how much magic Stiles had left, or what the hell he’d done that he was so low on it in the first place, but none of that mattered, they needed to get out of here before the incubus decided to try his luck again, or the Alpha pack decided they weren’t even going to try to be discreet about killing Derek, especially knowing Stiles may not be able to get them out of here with magic. 

“Okay.” Stiles nodded in determination, gritting his teeth and gathering all the magic he could, using it to blast the incubus and the Alpha pack off their feet, forcing everyone in the club a few feet backwards, enough to clear their path to the door, Derek reached out and grabbed Stiles’ hand, pulling him through the club, dragging him up the few steps and then bursting out into the fresh air.


	15. Chapter 15

Derek heard the shouts of hundreds voices start up behind them, it was obvious that although everyone had been stunned into silence at Stiles’ actions, they had gotten over their surprise and everyone had now started shouting in shock, shouting out orders, some of them even beginning to give chase. Derek spotted a cab and ran towards it, almost ripping the door from its hinges as he shoved Stiles in in front of him and pulled the door shut. 

“Drive!” He ordered and the taxi driver set off just as the club doors burst open behind them, he looked backwards, saw several people actually starting to chase them, “Faster! Now!” Derek urged and the driver floored the accelerator, looking in the rear view mirror at Stiles and Derek. 

“Want to tell me where we’re going?” He asked. 

“No. Just drive, keep driving. I’ll tell you when to stop.” Derek snapped, his gaze fixed on Deucalion who was smirking widely at the taxi as they drove away. 

“We need to call the others, tell them we’re okay.” Stiles muttered, he sounded like he was in shock, like he couldn’t believe what had happened, or that they’d somehow escaped from there alive. Derek still felt the magic of the incubus like an itch under his skin that he couldn’t scratch, he wondered if Stiles felt the same thing, but, really, that wasn’t important, not right now, all that mattered was putting distance between them and no doubt the hundreds of people that could be coming after them. 

They took a sharp left turn, then a right a few hundred yards later, when they’d driven for ten minutes Derek told the driver to stop, they pulled over at the curb and he handed him some notes before grabbing Stiles’ arm again and pulling him out of the cab. 

“You know I can walk all by myself.” Stiles commented snarkily as Derek looked around for another cab and steering Stiles quickly towards a different taxi. “What are we doing?” 

“Losing anyone who might be following us.” Derek replied shortly. “Come on.” He shoved Stiles into the back seat and slammed the door behind him. “Head west.” Derek ordered. 

“Dude, enough with the manhandling man. I can walk.” Stiles protested but Derek ignored him, he didn’t want to admit that the only thing that was stopping him from jumping Stiles right now was the fact that he was touching Stiles in some way. “Derek, just, hang on, let me at least get my phone out.” Stiles said pulling away from Derek enough that he could get his phone out of his pocket. 

“Don’t call them yet. Wait until we’re safe.” Derek interrupted and Stiles gaped at him. 

“We are safe, look, there’s nobody following us. We need to let them know we’re both alive, they’re probably freaking out.” Stiles tried to reason with him. 

“I know, but I don’t want to tell them we’re okay until we know that we’re okay, that we’re safe. Just, hang on,” Derek looked around them, eyeing up the few people out on the streets, “Here’s fine. Drop us here.” Derek instructed, the taxi driver looked at them in disbelief before pulling up at the side of the road as Derek shoved Stiles out of the cab and climbed out after him. 

“Alright, Derek, just, take a breath, what are we doing here?” Stiles asked in confusion. 

“Wait a second.” Derek said, flagging down a third taxi and directing Stiles into the back seat. “Take us to Midtown. I’ll direct you when we get closer.” Derek informed the driver, “Alright, I think we’ll be okay now, you can call them.” 

“Finally.” Stiles said rolling his eyes and calling his dad. 

“Stiles? Did you get him? Is he okay?” Noah asked quickly. 

“I’m fine Noah. We both are.” Derek said, he noticed the driver give him a funny look and Derek leaned closer, pressing his ear to the other side of Stiles’ phone while Stiles just shot him a grin. 

“Oh thank god!” Cora said and the whole pack let out sighs of relief, “Oh god, thank god, thank god. Are you safe now? Are they dead?” 

“We’re on our way back to the apartment, we’ll be safe there until we can catch the next plane home. No, they,” Derek glanced at the driver, “Our friends, we didn’t get to give them a proper goodbye.” He advised, “I’m sure we’ll see them again soon enough though.” 

“Right, we’ll prepare for visitors.” Peter said and Derek hummed in response. 

“You’ll need to take the next right please.” Derek instructed the driver. 

“And Stiles? Are you okay? After your, um, trip? You feel okay?” Erica asked and Derek looked at Stiles in puzzlement. 

“I’m fine. Just run down. Need to sleep for a bit. But fine. How’s things with Theo?” Stiles replied. 

“What trip?” Derek asked and Stiles glanced to the taxi driver. 

“Can your driver hear us?” Scott said. 

“No.” Derek replied. 

“Well, so Theo turned up at the house and Stiles sensed him, so we trapped him, and he told us about the fact that the Alpha pack were going to kill you. And, Stiles, well, he was with us in Beacon Hills and then he was somehow with you in New York, like, literally, he vanished and when we rang his phone, he was stood outside the club.” Scott explained and Derek stared at Stiles in astonishment. 

“That’s not possible.” Derek said stunned. 

“That’s what I thought too. But, apparently, it is.” Stiles said dismissively, “Back to the point, Theo, is he still at ours? Or has he left?” 

“He’s at ours for now, until you guys get back.” Jackson confirmed. 

“Okay, that’s good. Right, we’re nearly at the apartment, we’ll call you before we get on the plane but right now, we need to go.” Derek said firmly, waving the driver to a stop before grabbing Stiles’ arm and tugging him from the taxi, “Stay safe, we’ll speak to you in the morning.” 

“Alright, stay safe.” Cora said and Derek mumbled in agreement before Stiles disconnected the call. 

“So what now?” Stiles asked, Derek turned to look at him, he couldn’t help but glance at Stiles’ lips, wonder how good it would feel to kiss him, to have Stiles under him, begging him to make love to him. Derek shook his head to try and clear the thoughts from his mind, it was just the incubus’ magic left in his system, he could fight it. 

“Come on, the apartment is just up here, and then you can tell me how you managed to teleport across the country in a fraction of a second and still end up able to keep us from getting killed.” Derek said, still holding on to Stiles’ wrist. 

“Well, considering I have no idea how I did it, I’m not sure how I’m going to tell you how I did it. All I knew was that you were going to die if I didn’t get to you, so, I got to you. It really hurt though, like, seriously, it felt like my insides were being melted, I really didn’t enjoy it, but it was worth it, considering you’re still alive and everything.” Stiles explained as they made their way up to the apartment, “Although, I’ll be honest, I would have preferred if we’d got out of there before the evil incubus thing that was going on, because, like, I super appreciate you breaking the spell, so, thanks for that…”

“You saved me first. From him. And from the Alpha pack.” Derek shrugged. 

“Yeah, I guess I did, but I could have done without being under his spell at all, it’s left me feeling kind of weird, I don’t know if you feel the same?” Stiles asked as Derek opened the door and led them inside. “Hey, this is kind of cool, so this is where you and Laura stayed when you lived here?” Stiles asked, moving around the apartment, heading to the fridge and sighing when there was nothing in there. 

“Sorry, I don’t usually stay long enough to keep food in the fridge, I might have some pop tarts left in the cupboard from when the pack stayed here.” Derek suggested. 

“Okay cool.” Stiles said, bending down to search through the cupboards for anything edible and Derek couldn’t help but stare at his ass, god, he wanted to fuck him, he was desperate for sex, desperate for sex with Stiles, he felt like he was going to explode if he didn’t do something about it. He moved forwards without meaning to, until he was leaning next to the cupboard that Stiles was currently searching through, Stiles glanced up at him and Derek’s mind was instantly filled with the thought of Stiles sucking his cock, looking up at him as he did so, god, his cock throbbed uncomfortably in his jeans and Derek tried to get himself under control. “So,” Stiles pulled out the pop tarts and stood up, “Like I was saying, obviously I’m really glad that neither of us ended up having sex with that thing, but, I definitely feel kind of off since breaking out of his magic, like, I guess, I don’t know, just…” Stiles opened the box and laughed when Derek reached in and grabbed the first one, ripping open the packaging and taking a large bite in an attempt to stop himself from saying something stupid, “Okay, someone is hungry then.” Stiles laughed, “Anyway, I’m trying to say, like, I think the incubus did something to me.” 

“Like what?” Derek asked with worry around a mouthful of food. 

“You don’t feel anything weird? Like you feel totally normal?” Stiles asked and Derek paused. Sex. That was literally all he could think about. It was like, until he had an orgasm, he wouldn’t be able to think straight. “Must just be me then.” Stiles said dismissively when Derek didn’t answer, “It’s just weird, because I haven’t felt this in a long time, it’s just, I’d forgotten how strong it is, or maybe it’s stronger because of the incubus, or just because it’s not something I’ve felt in a while, like, it’s built up or whatever, I don’t know.” Stiles shrugged. 

“How strong what is?” Derek asked, taking another mouthful of pop tart as Stiles reached into the box to pull out another one for himself. 

“I’m just horny as fuck dude.” Stiles said in bemusement and Derek nearly choked on his food, spitting part of it in the sink in an effort to stop himself from making a complete fool of himself. “Oh well,” He sighed apparently oblivious to Derek nearly choking to death next to him, “It’s just, like I said, it’s weird, and, all I can think about, just, sex, lots and lots of sex.” Stiles admitted, “Damn it.” He cursed, “Paper cut.” He explained, holding up his finger to show Derek where the box had cut his finger slightly, just enough for there to be a spot of blood. “No big deal.” Stiles said, turning to the sink and running his finger under the tap for a brief moment, “There we go, all healed, no harm, no foul.” Stiles concluded. 

Derek’s brain was still stuck on the fact that Stiles was thinking about sex, that he was horny, Derek felt his cock throb with need and before he’d really processed what he was doing he was moving, as Stiles turned around from the sink, Derek was already in his space, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling them close, pulling Stiles into a kiss. 

Stiles wasn’t going to deny that he was caught off guard, of all the things he expected to happen, Derek Hale kissing him wasn’t anywhere on the list, not ever. Sure, he’d wanted it to happen, thought about it a million times before Kate and maybe even a couple of times since, if he was completely honest with himself, but he’d never imagined it actually happening, he was nowhere near good enough for Derek to be interested in him. 

“Derek…what…” Stiles managed to gasp out as Derek pulled them together, as Derek pressed his lips to Stiles’ and kissed him hungrily. 

“Just shut up and kiss me Stiles.” Derek growled into his mouth and if that wasn’t the hottest thing Stiles had ever heard he didn’t know what was. He kissed him back, reaching out to rest his hands on Derek’s waist, except then Derek pulled him closer, grabbing his ass and lifting him up so that Stiles had to wrap his legs around Derek’s hips to keep himself balanced. He groaned at the sensation, unable to believe how good it felt as Derek moved, pushing Stiles into the nearest wall and kissing him so thoroughly that Stiles was pretty sure he was ruined for life because nothing would ever feel as good as this. 

Stiles couldn’t help but think that something was wrong though, because the Derek he knew would never want to kiss Stiles, not willingly, he tried to follow that train of thought except then Derek thrust his hips forwards and Stiles was certain he saw stars as his cock throbbed desperately, god he wanted more, he needed more, he just had to have more. He kissed Derek back, his lips parting and allowing Derek’s tongue access to his mouth, groaning at the sensation because Jesus Christ he would never, ever, joke about Derek’s kissing abilities again. He stilled then, realising what this was, somehow, and he had no idea how, Derek must have been exposed to Stiles’ blood when he cut his finger, it was the only thing that made sense, even though he had no idea how Derek could have tasted his blood, that had to be it, nothing else made sense. 

“Derek, Derek, wait, stop.” Stiles tried as Derek moved his mouth, instead kissing his jaw, his nose pressing to his neck like he was inhaling his scent and then he was sucking and licking at the tender flesh over his pulse point and Stiles was sure he was going to cum in his pants at any second, groaning at the sensation because god, it felt so good, and he wanted more, he wanted so much more, “No, Derek, no, wait, hang on, just, stop.” Stiles tried again and suddenly Derek froze. 

Derek had never felt anything like it, having Stiles in his arms, kissing him as desperately as he had always wanted to, listening to Stiles’ heart race as he groaned into Derek’s mouth, the scent of his arousal flooding through Derek’s nostrils, he was so horny, so desperate, if Stiles carried on kissing him like that he was going to cum in his pants long before they got anywhere near the bedroom, except then Stiles’ words filtered in to his ears and Derek realised what he’d done. He’d ordered Stiles to kiss him. He’d told him to shut up and kiss him. The realisation made him let go of Stiles like he had been burned, he couldn’t believe what he’d done. He could use the excuse of the incubus’ magic having some kind of effect on him, but that didn’t excuse what he’d done. He had been planning on having sex with Stiles. He’d been planning on taking him to the bedroom and making love to him until neither of them could walk, and Stiles…Stiles hadn’t wanted that, he’d been following orders. God, Derek thought he was going to be sick. 

“I’m sorry.” Derek said, stepping away from Stiles and glaring at the floor.

“You don’t have to be sorry…” Stiles tried. 

“No. I do. I shouldn’t have…That shouldn’t have happened. It was a mistake. I’m sorry.” Derek said firmly, spinning on his heel and heading for his bedroom, shutting the door behind him with a thud. 

Stiles stared at the shut door with devastation, he couldn’t believe what he’d done to Derek, it was his fault, his blood had obviously contaminated Derek, and, unbelievably, twice now, Derek had broken free from its effects. Stiles couldn’t help but think that Derek must be incredibly strong, stronger than anyone else he’d ever met, if he could resist Stiles’ blood so easily. 

“Or maybe he’s just really repulsed by you.” Stiles muttered under his breath, knowing Derek wouldn’t hear it, “You’re such a fucking idiot.” He said in disgust, because even though he knew exactly what a mess he’d made of things, he was still incredibly horny, and he knew it had to be the incubus’ magic, because otherwise there would be no way in hell he’d have a boner right now, not when he knew what discomfort he’d caused Derek. He sighed heavily, going into the bathroom and locking the door behind him, knowing how messed up it was, he reached for his trousers and undid his belt. 

Considering it was the first time he’d touched his own cock in over a year, Stiles was kind of surprised how eagerly it responded, he was certain that after Kate it would be impossible for him to get hard, but the evidence was right there in his hand. He closed his eyes, trying to forget about the look of disgust on Derek’s features, instead thinking about the feel of his lips against his own, about the way his hands had cupped and squeezed Stiles’ ass, about how his stubble had scratched Stiles’ own skin, the feel of his mouth on Stiles’ neck, he stroked his cock slowly, gently, as if to remind himself how to do it, but by the time he’d imagined Derek shoving him to the couch, climbing on top of him and grinding in to him, Stiles was so hard it was almost painful. He increased his pace just slightly and a moment later his orgasm overwhelmed him, he let out a moan of pleasure as he found his release. He’d forgotten just how good that could feel. A moment later the shame hit him. He’d just gotten off on the thought of Derek touching him, and he’d caused Derek to touch him, when he hadn’t wanted to. How could he have possibly gotten off on that? After everything Kate had done to him, he’d always managed to avoid getting excited, too repulsed by her to get turned on, but when he’d been in Kate’s shoes, when he had done the same thing to Derek, he ended up dealing with himself in the bathroom. God, he was so sick in the head it was unreal. The only real positive Stiles had was that now that he had had an orgasm, he could finally think of things other than sex, the incubus’ magic had obviously faded and he was at least grateful for that. 

He turned on the shower, stripping off and washing himself thoroughly, he didn’t want Derek to have to smell his scent all over Stiles, not to mention he was exhausted, his magic was basically empty, his emotions were all over the place, he just wanted to get clean and sleep for a week. He spent longer than necessary in the shower but the flow of water running over his body was the only thing that Stiles could focus on, otherwise he was going to burst in to tears at what he’d been responsible for. He hadn’t meant to. He hadn’t wanted Derek to experience his blood, not again. It didn’t change the fact that he had done it though, accidentally or not, and Derek had been the one to suffer for it. 

He cursed when he realised that he didn’t have any clean clothes, except when he opened the door there was a small pile of clean clothes placed outside on the floor, Stiles glanced to Derek’s room, seeing that the door was firmly shut again and the guilt flooded through him. Derek was a great guy, the best, he’d heard Stiles in the shower and known he’d need new clothes and despite the fact that Stiles had just almost raped the guy, because he had to admit it, Stiles hadn’t been complaining about Derek’s actions and wouldn’t have stopped him if he’d have thought for one second it was what Derek actually wanted, Derek had still brought him clean clothes and then gone back to his room obviously wanting to be left alone. 

Derek had slammed his bedroom door shut in disgust; he couldn’t believe he’d done that. He didn’t know how Stiles would ever be able to look at him again, he hated himself so much for ever forcing Stiles to follow his orders. He wished he’d known what killing Kate would have caused. He wished he’d just pinned her down and made sure Noah had been the one to kill her, because this, having this control over Stiles, it was torture. For all of them. 

What was even worse was that he couldn’t get the thought of Stiles out of his mind, even knowing what he’d just done, what he’d been planning to do, no matter how much it disgusted him, he couldn’t help but think about Stiles’ lips against his, the quiet moan that he’d made when Derek kissed him deeply, the feel of his ass gripped tight in Derek’s hands, or the way that Stiles had wrapped his legs around him to keep himself balanced as Derek grinded into him. God, he was horny, he couldn’t think straight, he just had to do something about it, otherwise he would never be able to keep himself under control. 

He locked the door, moving to the bed and pulling his trousers down. He jerked his cock angrily, he didn’t want to do this, but he couldn’t stop himself, he couldn’t forget the feel of Stiles in his arms, it had felt so right, so good, and right now it didn’t matter how wrong it had been, all that mattered was dealing with his current situation so that he didn’t do the exact same thing the next time he saw Stiles. Despite the fact that he felt guilty about what he’d done to Stiles, it didn’t stop him from closing his eyes as he stroked himself quickly, bringing himself to the edge within moments and letting out a gasp of pleasure when he finally reached his orgasm. 

The second it was over the weight of what he had done crashed over him, how was he ever supposed to look Stiles in the eyes? How was he ever supposed to make this right? What could he say or do to ever make it up to Stiles? 

He heard the shower turn on and shook his head sadly, Stiles probably felt dirty, violated, and he had every right too. He knew that Stiles didn’t have any clothes with him, he didn’t know how he would feel about borrowing some of Derek’s, but it was probably a better choice for him than having to put on the dirty clothes that Derek had assaulted him in. He put them down on the floor outside the bathroom and then retreated back to his bedroom, he knew he was being a coward, but he didn’t know how to cope with his own guilt, and he didn’t know how to face Stiles. 

He heard the bathroom door crack open a little while later and after a few minutes he heard the soft footfalls of Stiles moving to the sofa and then collapsing on to it. Derek knew he should go out there and apologise, but he couldn’t face Stiles, couldn’t face having Stiles look at him in such disgust, knowing that he was just as bad as Kate had been. No. He couldn’t do it. He sat down on the edge of the bed, falling backwards and closing his eyes, drifting into an uneasy sleep. 

Stiles couldn’t sleep, he’d sat down on the sofa, unsure if the other bedroom was Laura’s and if Derek would feel uncomfortable with Stiles being in there, he’d rested his head against the back of the sofa, exhaustion sweeping through him, he wanted to sleep, he wanted to gain back a bit of magic, at least enough so that they could defend themselves on the way home if necessary. But he was terrified of closing his eyes. Not just because no doubt he’d have nightmares which would wake Derek and any neighbours, which wouldn’t exactly make things easy for Derek staying here when he came to town on visits, but because he was terrified that if he slept, something could happen to Derek. What if the Alpha pack attacked? What if the incubus came for him? It was only a few hours until Derek’s plane was supposed to leave anyway. He’d stayed awake under worse circumstances before. He wandered around the small apartment, looking at a few of the pictures that were on the walls, Laura was pretty and she looked kind and, Derek, well, he looked younger but his eyes were darker, more haunted, his smile didn’t reach his eyes and Stiles wanted to reach into the picture, go back to that Derek and tell him that things were going to get better. 

It was odd because he sometimes thought Derek looked too serious, too sad, but when he thought back to when he first met him, no, he had definitely changed since then, he’d stopped overthinking, he’d become their Alpha, their family. But the photos here, they showed a young man who had just lost everything, and who was going through hell and yet still trying to smile because it’s what his sister needed to see. 

He sat back down on the sofa a little later, he vaguely thought about turning on the television but he didn’t want to disturb Derek if he was sleeping, instead he picked up one of the books that was sat on the table and started browsing through it. He didn’t really read it, he kept listening for the sounds of anyone coming to attack them, even though he knew that Derek had made sure nobody followed them, he was so used to the people he was running from always finding him, even though he knew the tracker was no longer in his chest, and that logically there was no way anybody could find him, he couldn’t relax, and without Derek next to him, Stiles didn’t know how to relax, he’d become so used to him being there, he didn’t know how to sleep without him now. 

It wasn’t that long before Stiles heard Derek’s alarm going off and a few minutes later he heard his door crack open, he looked up from the book to see Derek staring at him, he didn’t look great, but he at least looked like he’d slept for a little while, which was better than Stiles. 

“Did you get any sleep?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged as casually as he could. 

“I wasn’t tired.” Stiles replied. 

“Liar.” Derek mumbled quietly, “Look, let’s just get home.” He sighed, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. 

“Okay.” Stiles replied, “Um, thanks for the clothes by the way.” He said to Derek’s retreating back, “And, um, about last night…”

“No. It shouldn’t have happened. We both know it was a mistake. I’m sorry…” 

“I’ve already told you; you don’t have anything to be sorry for…” Stiles tried. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I do. Just, forget it Stiles. I don’t want to talk about this. I just want to go home. Okay?” Derek snapped. 

“Yeah, okay. Sure.” Stiles mumbled, staring at his shoes as he followed after Derek as quickly as he could when he actually felt a little dizzy, he was really tired, his magic – although it had returned a little bit - was still massively depleted and he really wanted to go to sleep but he couldn’t. 

They headed to the airport in silence, Stiles didn’t know what to say and Derek was obviously angry at him, he could tell it from the tense frame of Derek’s shoulder as he stared out of the window of the taxi, studying the quiet sidewalks instead of talking to Stiles. The airport came into sight eventually and Derek handed the driver money before climbing out of the taxi in silence, Stiles trailing after him, he didn’t know what he could say to make this better. 

“I need an extra ticket for the five am flight to Bakersfield.” Derek said to the woman at the desk and she looked at him in surprise before her gaze shifted to Stiles. 

“Oh, there’s only a few seats left on that flight, unusual but, oh well, lucky for you there’s still space. I’ll need to see a passport?” She said and Stiles and Derek both stilled. 

“Well, you see the thing is…um…” Derek started before the scent of magic filled his nostrils and Stiles held out a passport. 

“Here you go.” Stiles said sounding a bit shaky. 

“Are you okay honey? You’ve gone a bit pale?” The woman asked. 

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. Is everything okay with my passport?” He asked and the woman glanced at it quickly before smiling up at Stiles. 

“Yes, that’s absolutely fine.” She said, turning to her computer and filling in some details, “And, your phone number?” She queried. 

“Um,” Stiles leaned against the counter, more to steady himself than anything else because his head was swimming, “It’s four, six, five…”

“Why do you need his number?” Derek interrupted. 

“It’s, um, well, for our records.” She replied with a faint blush on her cheeks and Derek almost growled at her. 

“I don’t think that’s necessary, do you?” Derek snapped and Stiles looked at him in amazement, it had been a long time since he’d seen Derek snap at anyone like that, he was usually very good at charming people to do what he wanted. 

“I, erm, I guess not.” She said, blushing violently and returning her gaze to the screen. “Okay, so, that’ll be three hundred and twenty-six dollars, are you paying cash or card?” She said professionally and Stiles patted his pockets uncomfortably. 

“I…” He began before Derek pulled out his wallet. 

“Cash.” He said, handing over several notes and waiting for the paperwork to be passed back, glaring at the woman the entire time, especially when she risked another glance at Stiles before ducking from Derek’s gaze, Stiles looked to Derek with complete confusion, he couldn’t understand what was going on, but, if he was honest, he didn’t care, his head was spinning. He’d used magic to conjure up a replicated passport, because he had no idea how to get his real passport here, but the magic had been more than he’d expected and after everything that had happened last night, he genuinely felt a little sick at the feeling of emptiness inside him. 

Derek walked off towards one of the check-in desks, not even looking behind him to check Stiles was following and Stiles was feeling more nauseous by the second, was this it? Was Derek never going to speak to him again unless it was an absolute necessity? He hated that he’d messed up so bad, but he hadn’t meant to, it was an accident, Derek had to understand that. 

They got checked in without any issue and Stiles followed silently as Derek headed for their gate, Stiles couldn’t wait to get home, he couldn’t wait to hug his dad and tell him how badly he’d messed up, how Derek wasn’t even speaking to him, not that he blamed him, but he didn’t know how to fix this, he wished he knew what he could do, he wished that none of this had happened, that Derek had never left town for his stupid meeting in the first place. 

They’d barely stepped on to the plane when Derek froze, slamming a hand into Stiles’ chest to stop him from taking another step forward. 

“What the hell…” Stiles started, surprised to see Derek taking on a protective stance and almost pushing Stiles back off the plane. “Derek…” 

“They are on the plane. We have to get off.” Derek whispered and Stiles looked over his shoulder, studying the faces of the passengers, managing to spot Deucalion, Ennis, Kali and at least a few other faces that looked vaguely familiar and Stiles guessed they were probably from the club last night. 

“Wait, Derek, wait, if we get off, they’ll be home before we are.” Stiles tried to reason. 

“We won’t make it home if we stay on this plane.” Derek snarled. 

“They won’t kill us. Not when there’s a plane full of witnesses. There’s normal people on here, ones that don’t know about the supernatural. They aren’t going to kill us. They will wait until we land.” Stiles said, glaring at Kali when she smirked at him, clearly having heard every word. “Derek, what happens if we get off the plane and they get to the pack before we do?” 

“We can warn them to get out.” Derek tried. 

“You’re not going to be run out of your territory, are you?” One of the wolves in the front row muttered, flashing red eyes at Derek before her gaze went to Stiles and she smiled ferally. “You could just hand your caster over and get off the plane. I’ll take good care of him.” 

“You’re not laying a hand on him, ever.” Derek growled. 

“Derek, we need to take our seats.” Stiles said from behind him, glancing to the air hostess who was looking at them uncertainly, taking in Derek’s odd stance but evidently not able to hear any of their hushed conversation.

“Fine. Come on.” Derek said, grabbing Stiles’ wrist and leading him down the aisle until they found their seats, thankfully they were next to the window and Derek made sure Stiles went in first before sitting down next to him, blocking anyone from getting to Stiles, not without going through him first. A woman in her fifties came and sat on the other side of Derek, looking at him suspiciously when Derek held a protective arm across Stiles’ chest and glared at her until he caught her scent and realised she was human and dropped his arm silently, Stiles pulled his phone out and began texting rapidly, creating a group chat so that all the pack were aware of what was going on. 

‘We have company on the plane.’ Stiles wrote quickly. 

‘What are you talking about? How many?’ Peter replied less than a minute later. 

‘Derek?’ Stiles asked, knocking their shoulders together until Derek pulled his phone out and looked at the messages. 

‘I think about thirty, including the Alpha pack.’ Derek typed in reply, barely looking at his phone as he text, too busy looking around the plane. 

‘Are you serious!?’ Scott chimed in, ‘What do they want?’ Derek and Stiles both looked to each other before Derek looked back at his phone.

‘Stiles.’ Derek said simply, ‘They know he’s bound to me.’

‘Shit’ Erica cursed, ‘So what do we do?’

‘Peter, get the spare key and pick the camaro up from the airport’ Derek instructed. ‘We’ll try and lose them when we land, then we can head out into the surrounding woodland and meet you out there, near the river, to hide our scents.’ Derek text quickly. 

“Excuse me, you’ll need to turn your phones off for the flight.” One of the hostesses instructed and Derek gritted his teeth before putting his phone down. 

“Sure.” He said in frustration. 

“One sec.” Stiles said typing frantically, ‘Got to turn our phones off for flight, will text when we land.’ “Sorry, all sorted now.” He said turning his phone on to airplane mode. 

Derek tried not to panic, they were stuck in a plane for the next four hours with at least thirty people who wanted to either take Stiles, or kill him and then take Stiles, either way, they wanted Stiles and Derek would not let them have him. Not while there was still air in his lungs. 

He couldn’t relax and he knew Stiles was just as tense in the seat next to him, it was obvious that neither of them could relax knowing that they could be attacked any second. Logically, Derek knew that nobody would risk exposing the supernatural by attacking them on the plane while there were so many normal humans around, but he also knew that several of them were insane and therefore unpredictable. 

Stiles did his best to concentrate on trying to get his magic back up to normal levels, he tried to ignore the pounding in his head, tried to forget about the fact they were on a plane surrounded by enemies and that he hadn’t slept last night. He knew that teleporting across the country had been the only way to save Derek’s life and he was eternally grateful that he’d been able to do that, but the amount of magic it had taken from him to do so was incredible, he felt weary, his limbs felt heavy, like everything weighed four times the amount it was meant to, and still, the threat of danger hung over them. 

The woman next to Derek kept shooting glances at the two of them and Stiles wondered vaguely what it looked like to a person that had no knowledge of the supernatural, did they look suspicious? Maybe they looked like spies, or that they were on the run. He had no idea what was going through her head but he didn’t have time to waste thinking about it, not when he should be concentrating on his magic. 

Two hours into the flight and Stiles’ stomach rumbled hungrily, Derek raised an eyebrow in his direction, but Stiles shrugged it off, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to eat now anyway, not when he was so preoccupied. Derek wanted to stop the air hostess and ask her for some food for Stiles, but he was also worried that someone would find a way to tamper with it, he gritted his teeth, ignoring the guilt he felt that he couldn’t even provide food for Stiles without fear of something going wrong with it. He was an idiot, an idiot and a failure and Stiles deserved someone better than him to be bound to. 

“I need the toilet.” Stiles muttered three hours into the flight and Derek tensed. 

“Can you hold it?” He whispered in reply and Stiles shook his head, clenching his jaw, Derek looked around, trying to assess how he was going to get Stiles to the bathroom and back in one piece. 

“Derek.” Stiles said uncomfortably a few minutes later when Derek hadn’t moved. 

“Okay. Okay fine.” Derek said, getting up from his seat and shuffling past the woman in the seat next to him, motioning for Stiles to follow after him and then gripping his arm tightly, steering him to the bathroom, glaring at anyone who even looked in their direction. 

Stiles managed to make it to the bathroom and back without any attack which he guessed he should be grateful for, he just wished Derek would back off with the manhandling, he knew Derek was having a bit of an overprotective moment, who wouldn’t when they were surrounded by enemies, but the man was gripping his arm hard enough that he was going to end up with bruises at this rate. As he moved to slide past the woman back to his seat, she slipped a small piece of paper discreetly into his fingertips and Stiles clutched it quickly, unsure as to what she was handing him as he sank in to his seat and Derek sat down next to him. Stiles unfolded it a moment later, letting out a snort when he realised what it was, shaking his head in amusement as Derek looked at him in confusion. 

“Here.” He said, holding out the paper to Derek who stared at it for a moment before he realised what he was looking at and felt a weight settle in his stomach, he didn’t find it amusing or ridiculous like Stiles did, in fact it was so accurate that Derek felt the absolute truth of it. It was the number for the Samaritans. This stranger, who had no idea about Stiles or Derek, about who they were or what they were, had looked at their relationship and decided instantly that Derek was abusive, and Stiles needed rescuing from him. After his behaviour last night, he couldn’t exactly disagree. No, it was obvious, she was right, Stiles needed to be as far away from Derek as possible, he had to keep his distance, and once they found a way to free Stiles, no doubt Stiles wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him anyway. 

He wanted to scrunch the piece of paper up and glare at the woman until she moved seats, but it would no doubt only confirm her suspicions, instead he took a steadying breath and handed it back to Stiles who took it in silence, looking at Derek in confusion before crushing the paper in his fist and throwing it on the floor in disgust. 

They sat in silence for the rest of the flight, Derek stewing over the stupid number on that tiny piece of paper, she was right, so right, and Derek knew it, with every fibre of his being. He was a monster. He felt sick. He pushed it to the back of his mind, trying instead to focus on the fact that they were due to land any moment and as soon as they were off this plane then all hell was going to break loose. 

Stiles was just as tense next to him and Derek couldn’t help but be amazed when the exact moment the wheels touched the ground, the sky went black with clouds and rain started to fall thick and fast, hard enough that Derek was struggling to see the runway through it as lightning split through the sky and thunder rumbled ominously above them.

“Are you doing that?” He whispered, grateful that the sound of the thunder covered the hushed words.

“It’ll hide us. No scent. Reduce the noise.” Stiles muttered in reply and Derek nodded in agreement, it would definitely be harder for the wolves to track them, he couldn’t believe Stiles had thought of it, he certainly hadn’t, Derek wished he could think like Stiles, hell, he wished he could just see how Stiles thought, he was amazed by him, in awe of him. 

They stood up along with the rest of the passengers, Derek grabbing his bag and gripping it tightly in one hand and holding on to Stiles with the other. 

“We need to get out in a crowd of humans.” Derek said and Stiles nodded, he glanced to an elderly woman and her husband on the next row and Derek inhaled slightly before nodding. 

“Here let me help you with that.” Stiles offered, pulling her bag from the locker above her and holding it tightly. 

“Oh, thank you, young man.” She said, turning to look at her husband who glanced to Derek.

“Let me grab yours, sir.” Derek said, following Stiles’ example, unable to stop the grin on his lips when he saw Stiles beaming at him, he rolled his eyes in amusement and followed after the elderly couple.

They managed to get in the middle of a small crowd of humans by some miracle as they descended down on to the runway, they were soaked through within seconds, rain running off them in rivers, but Derek knew it was a good thing, it was already washing their scent away, as soon as they had the chance they could run and hopefully they’d be able to lose them all. 

“Do you have enough to freeze them?” Derek asked quietly. 

“Yeah, I’ve been building it up all flight, I’m nowhere near at full power, but I’ve got enough to do some damage. Any longer than a few seconds and it’ll raise suspicions to the civilians.” Stiles hissed in reply. 

“Okay. I’ll tell you when. Be ready.” Derek instructed and Stiles nodded in silence, watching their surroundings, as their enemies closed in around them, as they began to surround them. Derek waited until they were inside the airport to hand the couple back their bags then he gripped Stiles’ arm tightly, increasing their pace as he steered them out towards the side exit. As soon as they were through the door Stiles used his magic to buy them a few seconds, sealing the doors for a few brief seconds, as they started to run for the trees on the other side of the road. 

The ground was mud under their feet as they ran, Derek glanced back to see the Alpha pack slamming into the door, cursing for a moment and then trying again, the doors opened and they started chasing after Stiles and Derek, several others hot on their heels. The rain was crashing down around them as they ran, Derek kept Stiles half a step ahead of him, determined to keep between him and their enemies, he would not let anyone hurt Stiles, not without going through him first. 

Derek heard several someone’s approaching from the West and he began to panic, they were outflanking them, soon enough they would be surrounded and there would be no hope. Thunder rumbled in the sky above them just as several bodies burst into the clearing and Derek tensed, ready to defend Stiles with his life, until he recognised who it was and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry in relief or terror. 

“What the hell are you doing here!?” He shouted over the roar of the thunder, stumbling to a stop. 

“You said to meet you out here.” Jackson called back. 

“We haven’t got time for this, let’s go.” Stiles said, pushing them all onwards, he didn’t know how far behind the others were, but he know they didn’t have that much time, and they certainly didn’t have time to discuss things right now. “Go, go!” He urged, trying not to panic when he realised that the entire pack, including Sam, were all gathered in the woods, he didn’t have time to query why they’d thought it was necessary to bring a child with them to this threat, not when they could be attacked at any second. 

He gripped tightly to Sam’s shoulder, shoving the child ahead of him as quickly as he could, relieved when Derek scooped Sam up in to his arms and carried him onwards as everyone ran through the rain, slipping in the mud slightly as they raced back the way they’d come, heading for the cars. 

They’d only managed to get a few hundred feet when they found their path blocked by Kali and several other wolves, Stiles used his magic to shove them backwards but he could already see more people coming through the trees so instead he span on his heel, directing the pack away from the safety of their vehicles and instead back deeper in to the trees. 

It was a few minutes later when Derek heard the roar of the river ahead of them, it came into view a moment later and he grimaced, it was full to bursting point, the sudden downpour of rain had already raised the water level by at least two feet and it was flowing so fast that none of them had any idea how they were going to get across. 

“Alright, we’ll just have to fight.” Derek said determinedly, turning around to face the trees and lowering Sam down to the ground, putting him behind him in an attempt to protect him as much as possible. “Can you hold them?” He asked Stiles. 

“Not long enough.” Stiles replied honestly, staring at the river and gritting his teeth, he reached out with his magic, trying to create a gap and hold back the river so they could get through to the other side, he clenched his fists and pushed harder, it just started to work when the force of the river pushing against his magic actually pushed Stiles physically backwards several inches and the pack all stared at him in amazement. Stiles snarled angrily, gritting his teeth and trying again, stopping the rain and instead using his magic to force roots to grow from the ground and wrap around his feet to hold him in place against the force of the raging river. Gradually it started to work, a gap appeared in the water, not very wide but enough that the pack would be able to get through to the other side, “Go!” He shouted, aware that now the rain had stopped he could hear the sound of their pursuers getting closed. 

“Stiles, we’re not leaving without you.” Scott said solemnly. 

“There’s no time. Take Sam, go now!” Stiles panted, already struggling to keep the water back, “Go! Quickly. I’ll be right behind you.” He said in reassurance when Sam glanced to him. Noah saw the desperation in his son’s eyes, heard the lie in his words, Stiles wouldn’t be able to follow after them and they all knew it. The moment he moved, the gap he’d created would vanish, they all knew that, Jackson was the first to move, grabbing hold of Sam, looking at Stiles regretfully and then rushing into the river bed as Sam screamed at him to stop, to go back. 

“I’ll stay with you. The rest of you, go, now!” Derek ordered, the pack all looked devastated at his decision, but they could see the others beginning to appear through the trees and knew they only had a matter of moments, Lydia grabbed Allison’s hand, who grabbed on to Scott, and within seconds the entire pack had descended into the river bed and were rushing to the other side. 

“Derek you can’t stay.” Stiles said, sweat beading his brow as he tried to continue holding back the river. 

“I’m not leaving you.” Derek replied. 

“Derek, go, please. They can’t use me or my magic. As soon as you’re safe, they have no way to hold me. Go. Go now!” Stiles commanded, shoving the river back as much as he could. 

“Stiles…” Derek whimpered. 

“Go! Now!” He shouted as Deucalion, Ennis and several others burst through the trees and started towards Stiles and Derek, “Go!” Stiles repeated and Derek grimaced, hesitating for the briefest second before turning and fleeing into the riverbed, running across the wet ground and being pulled out the other side by Peter and Noah who were watching Stiles with worry. 

The second Derek was safe on the other side of the river Stiles allowed his magic to fall away, the river resuming its normal flow in an instant and Stiles grinned, he didn’t care that he was trapped on the wrong side of the river, surrounded by enemies, the only thing that was important to him was that the pack were on the opposite side of the river and they were safe. 

“Why don’t you go swimming?” Stiles taunted when Ennis raced past him, moving towards the water's edge and snarling when he realised there was no chance he was going to be able to get across, baring his teeth at the pack who were all watching from the safety of the other bank. 

“You’re either very brave or very stupid.” Deucalion said and he stopped in front of Stiles. Stiles clenched his hands in to fists so the Alpha wouldn’t see the trembling in his fingers, he was exhausted, he didn’t want to admit it, but he was nowhere near back at full power and holding back the river had almost depleted his reserves, he barely had enough magic to stop Deucalion from taking another step forward and he wasn’t going to waste what he had left on something so ridiculous and petty. 

“I prefer to think of myself as just a pain in the ass, always making things as awkward as possible for anyone I don’t like.” Stiles replied sarcastically and Deucalion smirked in amusement. 

“Well, you may have delayed my plans slightly, but, sooner or later, we’ll catch Derek, and then we’ll torture him until he gives up the code he uses to control you…”

“You’re an idiot if you think that’s the way it works. And Derek won’t tell you. He’ll never tell you anything.” Stiles replied.

“Perhaps. But do you think he can be coerced in to telling me exactly what I want to know? Especially when I get my hands on his pack? Or are you more important to him than them? Will he let me slaughter them all just to keep you bound to him? Or will he give you up to keep them safe?” Deucalion smiled and Stiles glared at him, the thought of this man laying a hand on any of his pack, it made him want to rip him apart with his bare hands. 

“Yeah, why don’t you come for us then? Just like you did last time? Then you ran away with your tail tucked between your legs! You can’t take us all out, you’re pathetic! Call yourself the demon wolf, you’re nothing!” Erica shouted across the river and Stiles laughed. 

“The demon wolf? Really?” He mocked and Deucalion reached out to wrap a hand around his throat, restricting his flow of oxygen. 

“I don’t have to take you all out.” Deucalion called back, “Just enough of you for Derek to realise that telling me how to bind his caster to me is the better option.” 

“Take your hands off him right now.” Derek shouted out, gritting his teeth as he saw Stiles in Deucalion’s clutches, he would not allow this. He couldn’t watch Stiles get taken again. No. He had to stop it somehow. 

“Already so concerned about your little pet, don’t worry, I won’t kill him, not when he’s going to end up being so valuable to me. But please, feel free to stay stood there as long as you like, I already have people heading in your direction, a few minutes and you’ll be surrounded and there’ll be no need to drag this out.” Deucalion laughed. 

“Good luck finding them.” Stiles spat out, “Protect what is mine, protect it from harm, do as I wish and ensure it is safe, protect it from enemies, hide it from seeking eyes…” He whispered, barely loud enough for Deucalion to hear, never mind the pack on the other side of the roaring river.

“What are you doing? What is that?” Deucalion started, but it was too late to stop him now, he would protect his pack until his last breath.

“Stiles! Don’t! Don’t, whatever it is, don’t provoke him!” Isaac called out sounding panicked, Stiles blocked him out, blocked them all out, he had to protect them.

“...Hide it from their ears, make it unseen to those that threaten it, make it safe, protect it from threats.” Stiles finished, feeling his magic take effect instantly, he felt unconsciousness coming straight for him and didn’t even attempt to fight it, going lax in Deucalion’s grip just as Derek and the entire pack vanished from their eyesight. 

“What did he do?” Ennis called out in rage, “Where the hell did they go!?” He stormed towards Stiles as Deucalion dropped his unconscious form to the ground in annoyance. 

“They didn’t go anywhere.” Deucalion snapped, “They’re still there, just hidden to us.” He snarled at the unconscious Stiles, “You were right, you are a pain in the ass.” He muttered under his breath, “No matter Derek, if I can’t get you to tell me, then I’ll get the information from your caster instead, I wonder how well he will hold out under torture.” He mocked before indicating that Ennis should pick Stiles up and they headed away from the river and out of sight. 

“No! Stiles! Stiles!” Derek was screaming across the river, being held back by Boyd and Peter as he tried to jump into the river to get to Stiles. 

“Derek! Derek, stop! You can’t get to him, stop it!” Allison said, pulling on Derek’s arm. 

“Stiles! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Stiles! I’m here! I’m right here!” Derek was screaming but nobody on the opposite side of the river paid him any attention and he knew it was because they couldn’t see him, couldn’t hear him, because Stiles had used the last of his magic to protect them and now, he was in the hands of their enemies. 

“We need to go, come on, if we go now, we can get to the cars, go after them.” Lydia instructed. 

“We can’t fight over thirty other wolves, including at least three Alphas, not without Stiles.” Melissa advised and Derek couldn’t help but agree, he didn’t want to agree, he wanted to go after them and tear them apart and get Stiles back, but Melissa was right. Without Stiles there was no way that they’d be able to take out thirty wolves, not without taking casualties on their side, and he couldn’t lead his pack into a slaughter, no matter how badly he needed to get to Stiles. 

“We need to come up with a plan.” Isaac said. 

“Why!? It’s not like they can see us, Stiles made sure of that. We just need to find them and kill them all. They can’t see us coming.” Erica interrupted and Derek paused, he hadn’t thought of that. 

“Just because they can’t see us doesn’t mean they can’t kill us, claw us, shoot us or whatever. We’re not invincible, just invisible to them.” Noah said. 

“So you want to leave him with them!?” Erica shouted. 

“Of course not!” Noah shouted in reply, “But I also don’t want any of us to die. We need to be smart about this.” 

“He’s your son! You should be shoving Derek out of the way to get to him!” Erica said in outrage and Noah snarled at her, eyes flashing blue as he struggled to control his wolf. 

“I’m well aware of what Stiles means to me. I know full well what he means to you too, so I won’t take that comment personally. But if you think that I won’t rip Deucalion’s heart out with my bare hands the first chance I get then you are sorely mistaken. What I’m not going to do, because I know it would destroy Stiles, is get any of you killed storming in wherever the hell they are without some kind of plan, because I am not going to let my son blame himself if anything happens to any of you. So shut your trap and get moving, we can follow them to their base of operations and then we can plan. Understood?” Noah growled and Erica nodded in silence, evidently horrified by how much she had upset Noah. 

“I’m sorry…” She began. 

“I know. I know you’re upset, we all are, but we’re stronger together, so let’s work together. Okay?” He replied and Erica nodded in agreement as they all headed along the river and back towards where they’d left the cars. 

Derek could barely think straight, could barely process what was happening, he’d watched Deucalion take Stiles and he couldn’t help him, couldn’t get to him, after everything, after everything they’d been through, Derek couldn’t believe he’d lost him, again. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. He led the pack back to the cars, gripping Sam’s hand tightly to try and keep himself grounded, to stop himself from thinking about what could be happening to Stiles right now. They got to the cars within twenty minutes and then headed back in the direction of town, determined to find Stiles and the others, determined to bring him home. 

Stiles woke up slowly, someone was gripping his jaw tightly and he wanted to raise his hands to push them away, but he couldn’t, his limbs felt like they weighed a hundred tonnes, even his eyelids felt heavy as he tried to open them and figure out what was going on and where he was. 

“…boy, that’s it, open your eyes, look at me.” Someone was saying and Stiles forced his eyes open, staring up into a set of red eyes, he groaned, closing his eyes again in the hopes that when he opened them again, he wouldn’t be here anymore. 

“Nope.” He sighed, rolling his eyes when he realised that Deucalion was still in front of him, along with several other wolves and all of them were staring at him expectantly. He looked around the room, taking in the bindings on his wrists, ankles and around his chest, he was in some kind of warehouse, it was abandoned, not unsurprising in Beacon Hills, and it looked to have been made in to a temporary base of operations. Stiles sighed when he realised they were all still staring at him, “Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.” He muttered under his breath and Deucalion tightened his grip slightly. 

“Smart mouth.” Deucalion commented, “Now you’re awake it’s time to put that magic of yours to use. I want you to make sure the Hale pack can’t find us here.” He ordered and Stiles stared at him before snorting loudly and shaking his head in bemusement. 

“Wow. You have literally no idea how magic works, do you?” He laughed, “I mean, one, you can’t order me to do anything because you are not my master and two,” Stiles paused, he’d been about to explain to Deucalion that he would need time to build his magic back up but then he’d hesitated, the less Deucalion knew about how his magic worked the better, he could use this to his advantage, he could rebuild his reserves and then break out of this place and get back to his pack, “Nope. That’s it. I’m not going to do anything for you because you are not my master.” Stiles said with a grin and Deucalion looked at him with fury, his claws digging into Stiles’ jaw. 

“I may not be your master, but that doesn’t mean you won’t learn to do as your told.” Deucalion threatened. 

“Oh please.” Stiles said rolling his eyes, “You think you can possibly scare me into behaving? You have no idea who you’re dealing with. So, my suggestion to you, let me go now, and maybe some of you walk away from here in one piece.” He said, trying not to sound as exhausted as he felt. He honestly didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious, an hour, a day, a week, he had no idea. If he was honest with himself, when he’d cast the protection spell, he truly hadn’t expected to wake up from it, convinced that it would be the last spell he ever did, that he would die but it would have been worth it, to know his pack were safe from threats, protected from all threats that might come their way. 

“I like that you’ve got so much confidence in yourself, it’ll make it more fun for me to break you.” Deucalion replied. 

“Why are all you psychopaths the same?” Stiles retorted, “Like, honestly, come up with some original lines or something, please, it’s super boring for me to have to listen to the same shit get spouted out of every single mouth, you’re going to be the one to break me, you can teach me how to behave, it’ll be so much fun for you, yada yada yada. Literally, it’s so freaking boring.” Stiles said. 

“I don’t know what you’ve experienced in the past, but you’ve never dealt with anyone like me before, and believe me, I’ll make you beg to obey me just to stop the pain.” Deucalion threatened, Stiles was silent for a second before yawning, wishing that his hands weren’t bound to the chair so that he could cover his mouth and stretch even further. 

“Were you still talking?” He said casually and Deucalion growled at him before back handing him across the face, splitting his lip open. 

“Now, as I understand it, as you are bound, you can’t use any magic until you are instructed to. Is that right? Remember, I’ll know if you are lying.” Deucalion warned and Stiles rolled his eyes, trying to buy himself a moment to figure out how best to reply. If Deucalion believed that Stiles couldn’t use any magic until he was instructed, then as soon as Stiles built up enough reserves he could break out of his bindings and out of this warehouse without any issues, but how was he going to be able to convince him? It was a blatant lie. He knew that. And Deucalion would be able to tell. But if he could convincingly lie to Deucalion then it would make things a hell of a lot easier for him in a day or two.

“Maybe you know more about magic than you were letting on then.” Stiles shrugged and Deucalion smirked victoriously. 

“Good. In that case, you are not using any magic for the foreseeable future. Not until I have found out how to take ownership of you myself.” Deucalion snarled. 

“And why do you get him? What if I want him instead?” The female Alpha from the plane interrupted and everyone turned to look at her. 

“My dearest Hannah, do you think you deserve having a caster bound to you? Are you worthy?” Deucalion sneered. 

“And what makes you think you are?” Hannah snarled in reply. 

“I’m the demon wolf. If anyone is having control over him, it’s me. How Derek Hale was ever able to get control over you in the first place is a mystery to me. He should never have had that privilege.” Deucalion said simply. 

“Why do any of you want control? I’ve got to be honest, I’m not anything special to have control of, I mean, I’m not that powerful, I mean, I can barely do anything. Trust me, I’m not useful. I wouldn’t be any kind of asset to you, to any of you. You might as well just let me go, go back to your own lives and forget all about me.” Stiles suggested, Deucalion smacked him again and Stiles tasted the blood in his mouth. “Well that was rude.” Stiles commented and Deucalion glared at him, Stiles only grinned in reply. 

“Maybe we just kill Derek, maybe it’s that simple, kill Derek and then he’s mine.” Kali muttered under her breath and Deucalion growled at her. 

“I think you mean and then he’ll be mine, don’t you?” He commented and Kali hesitated for a moment before nodding. 

“Yes, yes of course that’s what I meant.” She replied just a fraction too slowly. 

“Good. So now we just need to find him and then I kill him.” Deucalion said as Stiles snorted with amusement. 

“I don’t know what’s funnier, you thinking you’re going to be able to find Derek, or that you honestly think it’s that simple, ‘just kill him and get ownership’, seriously?” He laughed, “You think if it was that simple that a hundred other people wouldn’t have already done it. You are an actual moron. Like, how are you an Alpha of a pack of Alpha’s? Honestly, you are not even half the Alpha that Derek is and he’s only an Alpha to Betas. So, how do your Alpha’s not slaughter you because they cannot be bothered putting up with your stupidity any longer?” Stiles mocked. 

“Once I’ve killed Derek then I’ll teach you how to behave properly, and you’ll have no choice but to obey me.” Deucalion snarled. 

“IF you manage to somehow miraculously find him and kill him then I won’t belong to you because you won’t have done it properly.” Stiles said, determined to protect Derek from harm, if Deucalion believed that all he had to do was kill Derek then maybe he might find a way to track him down and he might then find a way to kill him. If he knew that he had to say a specific phrase before killing Derek then he would delay until he knew the phrase, which would buy time for Stiles to gain back some magic, there was no choice in Stiles’ opinion, he knew what he had to do. “Listen to my heart beat. If you kill Derek without saying a certain phrase first, then his death will be pointless. You will not get ownership. I’ll go to a different member of his pack or family or whatever, even if you slaughter the entire pack, it won’t work, I’ll go to some distant relative or relation to someone, somewhere. You will never get ownership unless you wipe out the entire pack and all their relations and all of their relations and all of their relations and so on and so on. If you want to keep it simple, if you want to take ownership from Derek, you have to say the phrase and then kill him. Otherwise you’ll never get what you want.” Stiles said, smiling when everyone in the room stilled, obviously aware of the truth in his words. 

“And you know what this phrase is?” Ennis queried and Stiles nodded in reply. 

“Good, so tell me what it is then.” Deucalion said simply. 

“Oh, hell no.” Stiles laughed, “You’ll have to kill me because I’m not telling you a damn thing.” 

“You can be forced to talk.” Kali threatened. 

“I’d like to see you try.” Stiles replied with a smug smirk, he would not tell them anything, no matter what they did, not when it meant that, if he told them, it would result in Derek’s death. No way. It was not happening.

The first hit came from Deucalion, it was enough to knock the air from Stiles’ lungs but as soon as he caught his breath he grinned in Deucalion’s direction and it was enough to provoke him into a further attack. 

After the first few hours it became apparent that Stiles wasn’t going to tell Deucalion anything and the man sighed in annoyance, turning away from a battered Stiles and nodding for Ennis to take over. Stiles wasn’t sure how much time had passed in between the beatings and the constant repetition of the one question that they were all desperate to know the answer to, he knew it had been long enough that he could now feel the magic building in his fingertips, maybe it had been a day or maybe two, he didn’t know and he didn’t care, all that mattered was that in another few hours he’d have enough to break out of here without issue, he just needed to hold on for a little longer. 

Derek was going out of his mind, he’d thought it would be simple to find Stiles, the invaders didn’t have that much of a head start on them and this was his territory. He thought he’d be able to find them within minutes, an hour maybe. Instead it had been three days. Three days that they had had Stiles and Derek was completely and utterly terrified about what could be happening to him. He needed to find him, he had to find him. 

They’d been searching practically nonstop and Derek was exhausted, he knew the rest of his pack were too and he wanted to tell them to go home and rest, but honestly, that felt too much like giving up. Stiles was out there somewhere, with people that wanted to control him, Derek had to find him, he had to help him. 

“Maybe we go home and rest, start again with fresh eyes in the morning?” Peter suggested uncertainly nearly an hour later, he had been carrying Sam for the past few hours since the kid had collapsed from exhaustion, none of them had dared to wake him until they had some news, knowing that Sam was just as desperate to find Stiles as the rest of them. 

“You should take him home. I’ll call as soon as I find something.” Derek insisted and Peter shook his head in sorrow. 

“No, no way. We’re staying together. We all stay and look, or we all go home and rest. There’s no splitting up allowed.” He replied and Derek grimaced, he needed to find Stiles, but he also needed to look after his pack. Right now, they were in no state to continue the search, they needed to rest. It went against everything he had to stop looking, but he knew Peter was right. 

“Okay, we’ll go home and start again in the morning.” He sighed heavily. 

“Hang on.” Isaac muttered, cocking his head slightly as if he could hear something none of the others could, he took a step to his right, further away from the pack, listening intently, “What...” He muttered under his breath, taking another step in that direction. 

“What is it?” Lydia whispered, as if afraid of distracting Isaac. 

“I think I can hear...” He began, all colour suddenly draining from his face as he realised exactly what he was hearing, “Stiles. He’s this way.” Isaac said, racing away from the pack, running in the direction of Stiles’ screams. 

Derek heard them a moment later, as he chased after Isaac, he could hear Stiles screaming, could hear the pain he was in and he didn’t know if he was grateful to Isaac for being just that little bit closer, for taking that extra step that meant they had found Stiles, or if he was horrified at the fact that Stiles was screaming in agony, it didn’t matter either way, all that mattered was getting to Stiles, he had to get to him. 

They ran through two narrow alleyways, circling around a large warehouse until eventually Isaac slowed to a stop and Derek observed the scene in front of them as the rest of the pack caught up with them. 

There was a warehouse in front of them, smaller than some of the ones surrounding it, there was a fire escape up the left-hand side, suggesting there was a second floor, most likely with some offices, and a ground floor, no doubt the loading bay. Derek wasn’t interested in that though, what he was concentrating on was that there were at least fifteen people patrolling the perimeter, that were standing in between him and Stiles. 

He turned his head slightly, able to hear the conversation as Stiles’ screams trailed off into silence, closing his eyes in concentration, ignoring the rest of the pack nearby, knowing they would be doing the exact same thing as him. 

Stiles coughed on the blood in the back of his throat as Kali hit him again, he’d lost track of time completely, he didn’t know how long he’d been here, he didn’t know how long since he’d regained consciousness or how long since the torture had started. He did know that he was exhausted, he wanted to go to sleep, he was struggling to stay conscious but he knew he had to, he had to bide his time and, as soon as he had enough magic, he was going to slaughter every single one of them. 

“Are you ready to talk now? Tell me the phrase and I promise I’ll stop hurting you.” Kali offered with a smile and Stiles glared at her as best he could considering it was an effort to keep his eyes open. 

“Bite me bitch.” Stiles uttered with as much defiance as he could manage. 

“Maybe it’s time I take over.” Hannah interrupted and Kali growled at her before moving away reluctantly when Ennis rested a hand on her shoulder. “Stiles,” Hannah said softly, stroking Stiles’ hair almost comfortingly as Stiles tried to move out of her grip, he failed miserably when she tightened her grip on his hair, “I don’t want to hurt you. You’ve been so brave, and so strong, and I think that’s incredible, you should be so proud...”

“Fuck you.” Stiles snarled.

“Stiles, sweetie, let’s be reasonable about this,” Hannah continued and Stiles gaped at her in disbelief, Hannah ploughed on regardless, obviously unaware of just how repulsive Stiles found her words to be, “I know you want to protect your master, I understand that, and I think that’s a fantastic feature to have, but you don’t have to protect him. You tell me the phrase and then I’ll be your new master. And you don’t have to obey his ridiculous orders telling you to suffer through all this pain just because he doesn’t want us to know how to challenge him. Isn’t that awful? That he’d put you through that. You don’t have to protect him Stiles. You just have to tell me the phrase and this will all be over.” Hannah explained. 

“Wow.” Stiles muttered in shock, “You really are fucking delusional, aren’t you?” He laughed, “I’m not telling you shit, not because Derek ordered me not to, not because I’m protecting my master. I’m doing it because he’s my Alpha and the pack are my family and if you think I’m going to betray them then you are sorely mistaken, you psychotic bitch.” Stiles snapped, screaming in pain when Hannah dug her claws in to his side. 

“Well then, we’ll have to go about this the hard way then, won’t we?” She said mockingly as she dug her claws deeper and Stiles screamed, doing everything he could to try and pull away from her and failing miserably. “You can stop this, right now, all you have to do is tell me the phrase.” 

“Bite me, you crazy bitch!” Stiles screamed in pain, he wouldn’t tell her anything, he wouldn’t tell any of them a single thing, not if it put Derek in danger. 

“Wait!” Deucalion commanded and Hannah paused, keeping her claws still deep in Stiles’ side, but at least not digging them any deeper. “He’s said that a few times now.” Deucalion commented as he approached Stiles. 

“So? He’s insulting us.” Hannah retorted. 

“I think not. I think he’s telling us exactly what we need to know.” Deucalion said, “Look at this.” He pointed to a couple of scars on Stiles’ side, “These are werewolf bites. I think Derek bit him, to take ownership.” 

“You actually are a complete moron.” Stiles panted, letting out a laugh that turned into a cry of pain when Hannah dug her claws a fraction deeper into him, “You bite me and you’re going to die, very painfully.” He warned but Deucalion ignored him, “Stop, seriously, it won’t end well for you, just stop, please.” Stiles practically begged. 

He knew he wouldn’t be able to convince the man that biting him was a bad idea, he knew all hell was going to break loose the second Deucalion got a taste of his blood and he was already gathering his magic, it wasn’t going to be as much as he’d like, but it would maybe be enough to get him out of these chains, maybe if he was lucky it would be enough to hold them off long enough to get out of this warehouse, to maybe escape. It wasn’t an ideal plan, but the alternative was to stay chained up while Deucalion was intoxicated with his blood, he barely had a chance to do anything other than tense when Deucalion stuck sharp teeth in to his side, what he didn’t expect was to feel another set of teeth dig into the opposite side and he turned his head to see Hannah biting him too. 

For a split second nothing seemed to happen, there was only silence in the room, everyone waiting with bated breath as both Deucalion and Hannah released their hold on Stiles’ skin, glaring at each other as they straightened up and swiped at the blood on their lips. 

“Well?” Kali asked curiously, neither Hannah or Deucalion moved for a moment and Stiles wasn’t sure if it hadn’t worked or not, then suddenly they both lunged for him at the same time and Stiles tried to pull his arms free of the chains, to raise his arms and protect himself as they fought against each other to try and be the one to climb on top of him, instead the chains stayed firmly in place and Stiles could only wince as he was tied helplessly in place. 

“What the hell is going on!?” Ennis shouted in panic as everyone rushed forward to try and pull Deucalion and Hannah off Stiles without being torn apart in the process. Stiles used the distraction to make his escape attempt, using his magic to unlock the chains that held him in place, shoving Hannah off him as he staggered to his feet, ignoring the wave of light headedness that washed over him. 

“Grab him!” Kali ordered as she held on to Deucalion, two of Hannah’s pack ran towards him and Stiles threw a hand out, sending both of them flying in to the nearest wall, Kali growled, glancing from Deucalion to Stiles and then flinging Deucalion into the furthest wall she could manage before running towards Stiles. 

Stiles could already feel his magic faltering, he didn’t have enough, he hadn’t recovered from the protection spell and he wasn’t going to be able to escape from them, he heard the metal door being thrown open and watched as a flood of other wolves came running back in to the warehouse, no doubt hearing the commotion and wanting to know what the hell was happening. 

He was cornered, he couldn’t get through the fifteen wolves that stood between him and the door and behind him the others had managed to subdue Deucalion and Hannah, wrapping them in chains that they’d originally planned to use on the Hale pack, and were now coming for him, there was no escape, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and Stiles wasn’t sure how much fight he had left in him. 

“Nowhere to run to puppy.” Kali taunted as she took another step towards him and Stiles backed away, taking a step closer to the wolves behind him. “Play nice and undo whatever you did to them and we’ll forget about this little escape plan, go back to torturing you until you tell us what we want to know.” 

Stiles felt so weak that he was certain his legs were about to give out, he could see both Deucalion and Hannah straining against their chains in an effort to get to him, he could see the others all gathering around him, surrounding him, there was no escape, he wasn’t strong enough to get out of here and he was terrified that he wasn’t strong enough to survive much more torture, that he could end up telling them the phrase and putting Derek in danger, he couldn’t do that, he wouldn’t do that. There was only one way out of this. 

Derek saw the wolves outside all rush into the warehouse and he knew now was his chance, he ran forwards, the rest of the pack rushing after him, he could hear Deucalion and Hannah both calling out for Stiles, screaming about how badly they needed him, how badly they wanted him, he could hear Kali taunting Stiles that there was nowhere to run to, that they would continue with their torture. He rushed through the door just in time to see Stiles conjure up a knife out of thin air and clench it tightly in his hand, Derek had seen that look on his face before, the first night he’d returned to Beacon Hills, in the graveyard with his mom, Derek hadn’t been willing to lose him then and he wasn’t about to lose him now. 

“Stiles!” He called out, nobody else seemed to notice him, they didn’t even turn around at his shout, but Stiles did. Stiles looked up, looked past the wolves that were separating them, saw the pack that were flooding into the warehouse and he looked so relieved that it made Derek’s chest ache. Stiles was covered in blood, marked with cuts and bruises, he’d obviously taken a beating the past few days and the exhaustion in his stance showed that more than anything he could have said or done, Stiles looked on the verge of collapse and Derek wouldn’t let that happen. 

He stormed forward, wrapping his hand around the nearest wolf’s throat and ripping his windpipe out, he ignored the shouts of terror from the other wolves nearby, all of them seeming to look straight through him, it was then that Derek realised the full extent of what Stiles’ spell had done, they couldn’t see him, they couldn’t see any of the pack and they had absolutely no idea that they were here. 

“Get to Stiles.” He called to his pack, slamming his hand in to another wolf’s chest and watching as she collapsed lifelessly to the floor, he saw Noah rush forwards, nodding gratefully in Allison’s direction when she shot an arrow into a wolf that was blocking his path, before finally he reached Stiles and Stiles practically fell in to his arms in relief. 

“Don’t let him get away!” Kali screamed, rushing forward to get to Stiles as Derek continued to tear his way through the wolves in front of him, he saw Peter out of the corner of his eye as he took down another wolf, one glance in his direction and Derek saw Boyd, Jackson, Danny and Cora all taking out wolves of their own, Danny having the assistance of what looked like Noah’s gun, while the rest of the pack hurried towards Stiles, getting to him was their priority, anyone who got in the way would die. 

As soon as the first dozen wolves fell from apparently invisible intruders it was enough to spook the vast majority of those left alive and almost all of them fled to the furthest wall before dropping to their knees and holding their hands up in surrender. The six that didn’t were those that were trying to get to Stiles, Kali and Ennis included, their hands swinging uselessly in front of them, claws out in an attempt to gut their invisible enemies, Derek could only laugh because they were miles away from hitting any of their marks and he was going to enjoy killing them. 

Lydia let out a loud scream and Derek wondered vaguely what it would like to those cowering in the corner when, without warning, and without any movement from Stiles, all six of their remaining fighters were thrown clear across the room by an unseen and unheard force. As soon as they hit the ground the pack were running forwards, Derek made sure to take care of Kali and Ennis himself, leaving the four betas for his pack to take care of, he didn’t even hesitate killing the fallen Alpha’s, they’d kidnapped Stiles, they’d tortured him for information and Derek would not allow that to happen again. 

Within seconds it was all over, the ones who hadn’t surrendered were dead, the ones that had were cowering at the back of the warehouse evidently waiting for someone to rip them apart and Deucalion and Hannah were still chained to the wall nearby, struggling to get to Stiles. He moved towards them, assessing the chains that held them in place, they were sturdy and there was no way Deucalion or Hannah would be getting out of them any time soon, not without some assistance anyway, so he turned his attention to Stiles instead, hurrying over to where Noah was holding him upright. 

“Hey.” Stiles grinned when he saw Derek approaching, it was a weak grin with blood staining his teeth and his eyes barely staying open, but Derek knew it was Stiles’ way of saying he was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. 

“Are you alright?” Derek said, taking in the cuts, the marks, the bruises, the claw marks, all of Stiles’ wounds that showed just how much pain he must have been in over the past three days. 

“Fine. Tired.” Stiles replied, grimacing slightly when Melissa wrapped a bandage tightly around his abdomen. “Careful...”

“I need to make it tight.” She explained. 

“I meant blood. Don’t want you to end up like them.” Stiles muttered, tilting his head slightly in Deucalion’s direction. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a professional Stiles, now let me take care of this before you bleed out.” Melissa said simply and Stiles nodded, gripping a little tighter to his dad’s arm when it felt like he was going to fall. “Okay all done.” Melissa said a moment later, getting back to her feet and packing away the first aid supplies, “You’ll do until we can get you home and looked after properly.” 

“Thanks.” Stiles mumbled, barely audible even to the wolves, “God, I feel...” Stiles wanted to say he felt sick, queasy, light headed, like the world was spinning even when he closed his eyes, but he couldn’t say any of that, because as soon as he’d started to speak every bit of energy he had left seemed to leave him all at once, his eyes rolled backwards and he would have dropped bonelessly to the ground except for the fact his dad had been holding him up. 

“Stiles! Stiles can you hear me?!” Noah cried out in panic, shaking his son slightly despite the fact he could hear Stiles’ heart beating steadily in his chest. 

“He’s exhausted. We need to get him home, cleaned up and his wounds properly dressed.” Melissa insisted. 

“Yeah, okay, yes, you’re right, let’s go.” Noah said, already starting to pick Stiles up in his arms. 

“Wait, what are we going to do with them?” Erica said, pointing to Deucalion, Hannah and the remaining betas. 

“Deucalion and Hannah are infected. Meaning they either have sex with each other, which could kill them, or they die. Because no way are we letting Stiles offer himself up on a plate to save them, or be in contact with them when they cum, right?” Danny said and Jackson nodded firmly. 

“Right. I say we leave them to die, they bit him, he warned them what would happen. Their own faults.” Jackson said simply. 

“I’m not trusting that they’ll actually die.” Derek said, approaching Deucalion and Hannah and studying both of them solemnly, neither of them could see him, they wouldn’t have been looking at him even if they could, they were too busy pulling on their chains to the point that they were already bleeding, all in a vain attempt to get to Stiles. “If we leave them, and if they somehow survive, that’ll be on us. They know about him. They won’t stop until they find a way to challenge me for ownership.” 

“Okay, so we kill them all then. Nobody left alive who knows about Stiles. His secret stays safe. And so do you. Simple.” Peter said, already moving towards the betas at the back wall who were all looking around hesitantly, no doubt trying to figure out if it was safe to run or if their enemies were still there. 

“No. They surrendered. We can’t kill them in cold blood. Besides, there were hundreds of people in the club, all of them witnessed Stiles’ magic and him being bound to me. People will know about him and about me. Killing them won’t make any difference, but leaving them alive, that could make a difference. They could go out in the world, tell people about the enemies that they couldn’t see or hear, couldn’t fight, the enemies that slaughtered four Alpha’s without breaking a sweat and then showed them mercy, let them live. That could be the thing that people remember.” Derek replied. 

“People might also remember the fact that over thirty wolves came here searching for Stiles and none of them were heard from again. That could be a better story.” Lydia suggested, Derek paused, she had a point, Lydia often did, but still, he glanced to Stiles, he had to do everything he could to protect him and he didn’t know what would be more beneficial, to kill them all and have everyone wonder what happened to them, or to let those still alive to go home, spread the word about what had happened here and hopefully convince anyone stupid enough to come looking that it wouldn’t end well for them. He knew that he had no issues with killing Deucalion or Hannah, both of them were a threat to Stiles and even if they somehow survived their encounter with his blood, he knew they wouldn’t go screaming for the hills, they’d maybe run off but it would only be to bide their time before they came back again. No. They had to die. 

He strode forwards, looking at Deucalion’s face, wondering if there was even a hint of a man left in there, or if he had really turned into the complete monster that Derek had always thought he had been, he would have no regrets about killing him, in honesty it was a mercy killing, it was either this or a long, slow, drawn-out death because there was no way in hell Derek was letting either of them anywhere near Stiles. He grabbed both of them by the throats, not really surprised when neither of them noticed, still too busy trying to get to Stiles, and then tore them out, they stopped moving instantly, stilling in their chains, their chins dropping to their chests and hiding the damage inflicted as the betas across the room whimpered in terror at the sight in front of them. 

“And them?” Cora asked with an arched eyebrow. 

“They live, and they tell everyone they meet what happened here. Nobody will want to come to try and get to Stiles if they can’t even see the pack they want to defeat.” Derek explained. 

“Okay, so how do we tell them that they are free to go? They can’t see us.” Isaac commented. 

“I don’t know.” Derek shrugged, “I mean, the spell is supposed to make us invisible to our enemies. So, maybe we have to believe that these aren’t our enemies and then they’ll be able to see us?” He suggested. 

“Yeah, that makes total sense.” Jackson muttered sarcastically, Derek ignored him, closing his eyes and concentrating on truly believing the betas in front of him were no longer a threat to him or his pack, that they were not his enemy. He heard several sharp inhales a few moments later and, when he opened his eyes, they were all looking at him in horror. Derek glanced down at himself, taking in his appearance, he was covered in blood, he knew none of it was his, he guessed the majority of it belonged to the wolves he had killed, he thought some of it could even belong to Stiles, in fact he was almost certain that it did, when he glanced back at Noah he could see the blood coating the older man too and he made a mental note to make sure that they all had showers the instant they got home. 

“Please...please don’t kill us.” One of the beta’s stammered in fear and Derek smiled ferally. 

“No, you’re not going to die. Not today anyway.” He said seriously, smirking when their eyes moved from him to Peter next to him, evidently, he’d become visible to them now too. Derek watched with amusement as the beta’s gazes moved around the room, their eyes landing on each of his pack members, their eyes widening when they realised how outnumbered they were. 

“You’re going to let us live?” A second beta whispered almost a full minute later when he finally managed to steady his breathing. 

“Yes. You’re going to live. On one condition.” Derek began and they all looked to him expectantly, “You tell every single person who ever asks about Stiles and what happened when you tried to take him from me, tell them that the only reason you were allowed to live is to spread the story, that your Alpha and twenty other wolves were slaughtered, that they didn’t even land a hit to any of my pack, that we could have easily killed all of you too, but we felt like being merciful, just this once. If anyone else is stupid enough to come after him, I will kill every single one of them without a second’s hesitation, there will be no mercy. Is that clear?” Derek threatened. 

“Yeah.” “Yes.” “Crystal.” “One hundred percent.” They all replied quickly, it was obvious they were all terrified that Derek was going to change his mind and kill them all. 

“Good. Get going then.” He said, gesturing to the door behind him, the beta’s looked at him in uncertainty, obviously worried that Derek would decide to kill them as soon as their backs were turned. “Now.” He snarled and they all jumped to their feet and ran out of the warehouse as quickly as they could. 

As soon as they left Derek returned his attention to Stiles who was still lying unconscious in Noah’s arms, he reached out gently, trailing his fingertips through Stiles’ hair for the briefest second as If to reassure himself that Stiles was indeed still alive and breathing. 

“We need to get him home.” Melissa said and Derek nodded in agreement. 

“Alright, Noah, can you manage? Or do you want me to help?” Derek offered and Noah shook his head firmly. 

“No, I’ve got him, it’s fine.” Noah replied, scooping Stiles into his arms and moving towards the door along with the rest of the pack. 

The first thing they did when they got back to the house was for every single one of them to have a shower, Derek didn’t think anyone other than himself, Noah and possibly Melissa had been exposed to Stiles’ blood, but it wasn’t worth the risk, everyone went for showers and made sure that there were no traces of blood left on them when they got out and dressed. 

Now that they had Stiles back, albeit not in a great condition but at least alive and home with them, the exhaustion hit like a sack of bricks, Derek hadn’t slept for the past three days, neither had any of the pack, other than Sam, and seeing Stiles safe, in their home, Derek could barely stay upright he was so tired. 

“Are any of his injuries life threatening?” He asked Melissa who pursed her lips in thought. 

“They won’t kill him, but I need to clean them, stitch them and bandage them, at least make sure they don’t get infected until Stiles is well enough to heal them himself.” She advised.

“Alright, well let’s get him cleaned up then.” Noah said in determination, taking the gloves Melissa offered and beginning to clean some of the blood from Stiles. Derek couldn’t help but grimace as Stiles’ skin was exposed, there were more cuts and wounds than he’d realised, hidden underneath the blood that had covered him, Derek had no idea how Stiles had managed to hold out, how he had managed to avoid telling them the phrase that would have allowed Deucalion to challenge Derek for ownership, but somehow, impossibly, Stiles had defied odds once again and chosen to stay silent to protect them, no matter how much pain it caused him. He was in awe of Stiles, but he couldn’t help but think this was his fault, if he’d found some way to free Stiles from his bindings then this would never have happened, instead he’d used those bindings to his own advantage, ordering Stiles to kiss him. It couldn’t happen again. Derek had to put some distance between them, make sure he was never alone with Stiles so he couldn’t ever do anything as stupid again. 

As soon as Stiles was cleaned up, Noah carried him up to Derek’s room and they all piled in to the bed, getting as close to Stiles as they could. Derek wasn’t sure what to do, he knew he couldn’t leave the room, he had to be here, at least until Stiles woke up, for his own sanity if nothing else, he told himself that as soon as Stiles was awake, as soon as he’d seen with his own two eyes that Stiles was okay, then he would make sure he kept his distance, that he would never be alone with Stiles, not until he’d found a way to break the bindings, it was the only way. He couldn’t be trusted with Stiles. He knew that now. 

Stiles grimaced as he came back to consciousness, he’d barely moved when his entire body seemed to throb with pain and he gritted his teeth in an attempt to stop himself from screaming, he opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling above him for a moment or two before he realised he was back at the Hale house, he was home. He glanced around and saw the pack all sleeping in the bed nearby, none of them looked to be injured and Stiles was eternally grateful for that, he would never forgive himself if they’d been hurt trying to rescue him. 

“You’re awake!” Sam said excitedly from next to him, bouncing slightly on the mattress and Stiles tried not to groan when the movement aggravated his injuries. “Sorry!” Sam said, moving closer to Stiles and gripping his hand tightly, Stiles squeezed back and Sam looked at him with relief. 

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Stiles said, surprised by how husky his voice sounded, everyone seemed to have been disturbed by Sam’s actions and they were all looking around blearily until they finally realised that Stiles was awake when he spoke to Sam. 

“I’m fine.” Sam said dismissively, “What about you? Are you hurt? Can you heal yourself now? What happened? Why did you collapse in the first place? Are you okay?” Sam quizzed and Stiles rolled his eyes fondly as his dad reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder as if to reassure himself that Stiles was okay, Stiles rested his hand on top of his dads and grinned at him. 

“I’m fine kiddo, nothing for you to worry about.” Stiles said, sitting up and only grimacing the slightest bit, it was enough for Cora to notice from the other side of him and she reached out to touch his bare arm, starting to drain the pain from him and Stiles almost collapsed in relief, he would be eternally grateful to werewolves and their pain draining abilities. 

“How are you feeling?” Noah asked and Stiles shrugged as best he could without being in huge levels of pain. 

“Okay, I guess. Like, sore, obviously, but, you know, getting the crap kicked out of you will do that to a guy, give me a couple of hours and I should have enough magic to heal myself, no big deal.” Stiles said casually. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay kid.” Noah said, pulling Stiles into a hug and pulling away abruptly when Stiles winced with pain. “Sorry, sorry, I’ll save the hugging until later.” Noah said and Stiles nodded in agreement. 

“So, you guys are all good?” He asked, relief flooding through him when they all nodded in reply. He couldn’t help but glance to Derek, the man wouldn’t meet his gaze, instead staring at the covers just to the right of Stiles as he nodded. 

“I’m glad you’re awake.” Derek said stiffly before climbing out of the bed and heading to the door, it was obvious that Stiles wasn’t the only one to pick up on the awkwardness as everyone glanced between him and Derek for a moment before Peter cleared his throat and they all turned their attention to him instead. 

“Where are you going?” Peter asked. 

“I need to talk to Theo.” Derek said simply, his back still to the room as he headed out of the door and out of their sight. 

“Wait up!” Cora called, scrambling out of the bed along with the rest of the pack. Stiles moved as quickly as he could, grateful when Scott held out an arm to support him as they hurried after the rest of the pack, Stiles grimacing as he walked but determined to be there for whatever Derek said or did to Theo. 

They were the last to arrive in the basement, Theo was in the cage that Stiles had experienced with Kate, he knew it was supposed to be there as a last resort if any of the beta’s felt like they were losing control, but it had come in handy in this instance, it meant that the pack had been able to hold Theo until they could decide what to do with him. Stiles and Scott hobbled down the stairs as Derek stopped in front of the bars separating them from Theo. Theo looked bored, Stiles knew that look, he’d worn it so many times himself, put on a front of indifference, of boredom, and nobody would know how you terrified you really were. 

“How long have you been working for the Alpha pack?” Derek asked. 

“Before I even got here.” Theo said smugly, “And to think, you fell for all those lies, you didn’t even realise I was lying. ‘Derek, I swear, I’m not here to cause problems, I just want to settle down, stay out of trouble, keep my head down’.” Theo mocked. 

“And you were working for them? All that time? Watching us? Gathering intel?” Lydia quizzed. 

“Of course I was. We were just waiting for an opportunity. It took me a while to find out that you were going to New York when you left, and then we had to wait until you were looking for help with something, you’d be easy to lure into a trap if it meant you thought you would have an answer to your problem. So easy to manipulate.” Theo grinned, Derek glared at him, but he didn’t have an answer for that, Theo was right, Derek had jumped at the chance of finding a solution to freeing Stiles, he’d put himself at risk, just the idea of freeing Stiles had been enough for Derek to walk straight in to a trap and, if it hadn’t been for Stiles, he would have died. 

“He may have been easily manipulated, but the Alpha pack are the ones that are dead. Not Derek. He gave you the benefit of the doubt. You were stupid enough to think the Alpha pack would beat him, despite the fact Derek had already beaten them once, and now they are dead and Derek is still alive.” Peter retorted and Theo paled slightly, obviously caught off guard by this new information. 

“They’re dead?” He said in surprise. 

“Yeah they are.” Erica grinned, “Very, very dead. It wasn’t pleasant for them. But it was probably a whole lot more pleasant than we’re going to make it for you.” She threatened. Theo’s gaze moved past Erica, past the rest of the pack, until eventually he spotted Stiles, taking in his battered appearance before smirking. 

“I see all that magic didn’t do you any good in the long run.” He said victoriously and Stiles shrugged in reply. 

“I don’t know, I mean, Derek’s alive, I’m alive, our pack are all alive, and you? You’re trapped in a cage with only the hope that we show you mercy.” Stiles replied casually. 

“Mercy? You don’t know the meaning of the word.” Theo scoffed, “You murdered them and you didn’t need to. You have magic. Enough magic that you teleported across the country without even meaning to. And you’re telling me that you couldn’t think of a better way to stop them than by killing them? You showed them no mercy. Why would you show me any?” 

“He didn’t kill them. I did.” Derek snarled, not liking the smell of Stiles’ guilt. “And now, it’s time to decide what to do with you.” 

“Obviously we’re going to kill him.” Cora said and Derek hesitated, “Derek, come on, you can’t be serious? He’s been living in town for the past six months with the sole focus of finding out a way to separate you from the pack and get you killed!” 

“I’m aware of that.” Derek replied. 

“Not to mention that he attacked Stiles when he came back to town, and he was spying on us when you weren’t here. He can’t be trusted and letting him live will only result in us having to deal with him at a later date.” Jackson commented. 

“We can’t honestly be discussing murdering him?” Noah input, trying to be the voice of reason. 

“Would you prefer to arrest him on false grounds and have him get off? Or if he was found guilty then risk leaving him in prison to kill humans when his wolf gets too fed up?” Lydia replied sternly. 

“Of course not, but those can’t be our only options. There has to be something else we can do? Something that doesn’t mean murder?” Melissa argued, there was only silence as everyone tried to think of another way forward. 

“I could spell him.” Stiles said a few moments later and they all turned to look at him questioningly. 

“What kind of spell?” Peter asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“I don’t know? Some kind of banishment spell? I mean, I could make him walk away, never come back? Or never settle anywhere? Or have to move on if he ever tried to hurt people in the area? I mean, tell me what you guys want and I can probably do it or find a way to do it?” Stiles said. 

“Really? You could do that? Just tell him to leave and he’d never be able to come back?” Erica asked in amazement. 

“I mean, yeah, I guess. Not right now, I’d need a few days, to get my magic back up to enough of a level that I can do it, but, yeah, I don’t see why not.” 

“Okay, great, we have a plan then. We wait, let Stiles get his magic back and heal, and then we send Theo on his merry way. Nobody has to die.” Scott said happily and Stiles rolled his eyes fondly. 

“Sure, just let me have a few days rest, and then I’m all over it.” Stiles said, wincing slightly as he moved. 

“What!? No! You can’t do that!” Theo shouted, sounding more panicked by Stiles’ statement than the possibility of his immediate death at Derek’s claws. 

“You tried to kill our Alpha and my pack. Fucking watch me.” Stiles snarled dangerously before turning and heading back up the stairs, still leaning on Scott for support. 

The rest of the pack smirked at Theo, obviously able to smell his sudden terror, before they all turned and headed back up the stairs after Stiles. Theo was freaking out, dying was one thing, of course he didn’t want to die, but he knew they were all too cowardly to actually kill him, he would be able to talk them out of it. He was a skilled liar and he knew he’d be able to say the right thing, without them realising the lie, and he’d be able to convince them not to do it, that they didn’t need to kill him. But this, Stiles’ suggestion, there would be no talking them out of it, Stiles would cast some kind of spell on him and he would never be able to settle anywhere again, yeah, that thought actually terrified him more than anything else he could think of. 

He looked around the cage he was trapped in, he’d tried to escape before of course, when the Hale pack had all vanished for a few days, he thought it had been that they’d been hiding from the Alpha pack, but if Derek was telling the truth then they were dead. Theo could almost feel the desperation running through his veins as he looked around the cage, determined to find something that could help him escape, before Stiles could cast any magic spell that would ruin the rest of his life. 

Stiles had headed to bed almost as soon as he’d told Sam his nightly story, he’d struggled to keep his eyes open long enough to finish the story for Sam, but he’d forced himself to continue, knowing that Sam needed some routine in his life, that he had to be reliable for Sam’s sake. He’d hoped that Derek would come in to his room, but he’d never appeared, Stiles knew it had been a longshot anyway, Derek hadn’t spoken to him or even looked in his direction the entire time they’d been downstairs, he knew he’d messed up, he knew it was his fault and he didn’t blame Derek in the slightest, but, god, Stiles wished that Derek would come in so they could talk, so Stiles could apologize for everything that had happened in New York. As it stood, Derek hadn’t made an appearance by the time Stiles had changed and was ready for bed, he was exhausted and in pain and as much as he wanted to stay awake, he also knew he needed to sleep so he’d closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. 

He’d awoken in the middle of the night, screaming himself awake, scrubbing at his hands, convinced they were still covered in blood as they had been in his dream, certain that Kate and Gerard were right there, laughing at him as he begged for them to stop. It took him the better part of an hour to calm down enough to realise that he was indeed safe, that there was no blood covering him, that he was not suffering from stab wounds to his gut, that he was in his home, that Kate and Gerard were both dead, that they could never hurt him again. He ran a trembling hand over his brow to wipe away the sweat before sighing and throwing back the covers, getting unsteadily to his feet and heading to the kitchen for a glass of water, hoping that it would help to calm him enough to at least stop the trembling in his fingers. 

There was blood, so much blood that the tiled floor was bright red, that they would never be able to clean all the blood off it, that it would be forever stained that vivid red. The body was lay face down on the floor, the cotton pyjama bottoms and the long sleeve t-shirt were slowly absorbing some of the blood, their colour changing from dark grey to damp red, the dark hair was sticking up in all directions. The skin of his throat was torn open, four deep gashes that had clearly ripped his throat out, but it was his eyes, his eyes that were the most disturbing feature, they were wide-open, unseeing, and yet still filled with so much fear, so much pain, so much relief, it was that last emotion that tipped her over the edge. 

“Stiles!” Lydia screamed, waking from her dream in an instant, throwing the covers back and already clambering out of the bed even as Jackson tried to catch up with what was happening, almost falling out of the bed as he chased after her. Lydia was already flinging the bedroom door open, gasping for breath as she practically fell into Derek’s door on her way to Stiles’ bedroom, she was terrified, it was so vivid, so real, she was certain Stiles was already dead. She heard Derek’s door open behind her but it didn’t matter, all that mattered was seeing Stiles, she was already calling out for him as she flung open his bedroom door, staring at the empty bed with wide eyed terror, “No, no, no, Stiles, no.” She muttered in dread. 

“What? What is it?” Derek asked sounding panicked. 

“Stiles, he’s dead.” Lydia said, pointing down the stairs, Derek looked at her in terror, took in the ashen colour of her skin, the trembling in her fingers, the complete and utter agony in her eyes and he turned and ran for the stairs as fast as he could. 

“Stiles! Stiles!” He called out loudly, not caring if he woke the entire house, desperate to hear Stiles’ voice shouting out in reply. 

“In the kitchen!” Lydia shouted after him, knowing it was too late, that her dream was coming true, Stiles was dead.

“Yes.” Theo grinned as the door of the cage opened, it had taken him longer than he’d like to admit to manage to pick the lock, but he’d been able to do it eventually, and now it was time to get the hell out of here. He crept up the stairs slowly, listening intently in case anyone was hovering outside the basement door, he cracked open the door slowly, peeking through in to the kitchen and stilling when he saw somebody stood by the kitchen sink, his back to Theo and the doorway. 

Theo waited a moment, uncertain if Stiles would turn around and see the open door, he watched as Stiles sighed heavily, resting his head in his hands, Theo could hear his heart beating and although it was faster than what a normal resting heartbeat should be, there was no indication that Stiles knew he was there. Theo grinned, this was his chance, his chance to make sure Stiles could never use his magic on him, that he could never come after him. He moved stealthily, knowing that if Stiles became aware of his presence then he wouldn’t be able to accomplish his task, knowing that Stiles could use magic to kill him long before Theo managed to rip his throat out, he had to kill him the first chance he got.

Stiles grimaced, he couldn’t shake the image of Kate from behind his eyelids, he raised his head out of his hands, reaching out to grab his glass of water with trembling fingers, trying to forget the image of his hands covered in blood. 

“It wasn’t real. It was a dream.” He muttered to himself, running a hand across the back of his neck, tilting his head backwards and closing his eyes again, trying to forget about the images burned into the back of his eyelids.

“Stiles! Stiles!” Derek called out from the above floor, he sounded panicked and Stiles startled, opening his eyes just as he felt claws cutting into his neck. He could feel the same panic flooding through his own body, even as he heard the pounding of footsteps on the stairs, even as he heard Lydia shout out that they were in the kitchen, it didn’t matter, he knew it was too late, Derek wouldn’t get here in time, nobody would. 

“Too late.” Theo snarled in to Stiles’ ear as his claws dug in deeper, tearing in to his throat and Stiles didn’t have a chance to use magic to defend himself, he wasn’t sure he would have enough to protect himself even if he tried, he had one brief second to think he was about to die, that he was scared, but he was also relieved, relieved that this was all over, that he would never have to think about having another master, or following orders that he didn’t want to, that it was all, finally, about to be over. He closed his eyes, prepared for the pain, except suddenly there was a shout coming from the direction of the living room, the opposite direction from where Stiles had expected. 

Theo heard a shout from behind him at the exact same moment that somebody collided with his lower back, it wasn’t forceful, but it was enough to knock him off balance and instead of tearing Stiles’ throat out, his claws moved slightly and he only sliced through the skin slightly before Stiles managed to twist out of his grip, falling against the cupboard and clutching tightly at his neck. Theo turned to see who had hit him and couldn’t help the surprise when he saw it was just a kid, he couldn’t remember his name, but it didn’t matter right now, instead he turned on him, ready to kill him for messing up his plan. 

Stiles could feel the blood spilling through his fingers where he kept them pressed tightly to his neck, he looked up, trying to figure out where his saviour had come from, only to see Theo rounding on Sam. He used his magic and managed to freeze Theo for a split second before it faltered and the man continued on his path, ready to kill Sam, Stiles wouldn’t allow it, he surged forwards, not caring about keeping pressure on his own injury, only bothered about protecting Sam. He managed to tackle Theo to the ground a moment before he could grab hold of Sam, grimacing as his entire body throbbed with pain at the movement. 

“Sam! Run!” Stiles shouted hoarsely, his throat feeling like it was being torn apart. Theo lashed out, kicking Stiles off him as Sam scrambled out of the way as best he could, Theo managed to pin Stiles and raised his claws, determined to finish the job as he held a struggling Stiles underneath him. 

“I’ll enjoy this.” Theo smirked. 

Derek heard Stiles shout for Sam to run, heard the sounds of a struggle in the kitchen, he raced down the stairs as fast as he could, getting to the kitchen just as Theo raised his hand, seemingly intent on ripping Stiles’ throat out with his claws. Derek charged forward, slamming into Theo, his claws tearing into him as he pulled him off Stiles and threw him in to the nearest wall. Derek crouched protectively in front of Stiles and Sam, keeping himself between Theo and them, he heard Sam rush forward, crying out for Derek for help, but he couldn’t look, not yet, not when Theo was still a threat. 

Lydia and Jackson appeared in the kitchen doorway and Theo turned to glance at them, no doubt hearing the rest of the pack racing down the stairs behind them, he knew then it was over, there was no escaping, he looked to Stiles who was lay on the kitchen floor, trying to sit up and keep pressure on his wound, a hand reached out to push Sam backwards, still trying to protect the kid from Theo even now, even as blood flowed freely from the wound on his neck, Theo knew it wasn’t deep enough to kill him, not unless he died from blood loss. He looked to Derek who was crouching protectively in front of Stiles and Sam, then he looked to the pack who were all gathering in the doorway and looking at the scene in front of them in horror. 

“Fuck you.” Theo growled, charging towards Derek, Derek moved instantly, barely missing a step as he sliced his claws through Theo’s jugular and the man collapsed to the floor a moment later. 

“Stiles, Stiles, please, please don’t die.” Sam sobbed from nearby and Derek turned to look at them both, taking in the wound to Stiles’ neck and bending down, clamping his hand down on the injury and meeting Stiles’ gaze. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles croaked reassuringly, wincing as he did so, trying to sit up a bit further and stilling when Melissa pushed past the rest of the pack to assess Stiles’ injury, Derek released his hold when she asked him too and she grimaced but nodded firmly. 

“It could have been a lot worse. You’ll live.” She said, already pulling out her first aid kit, “You haven’t got enough magic to heal?” Stiles began to shake his head then winced when the movement caused pain. 

“No.” He replied quietly. 

“But, you’re going to be okay? Right?” Sam asked in worry. 

“Of course I am kid, I’m going to be fine, thanks to you.” Stiles reassured him, “Good job saving my life there, I owe you one.” He said quietly and Sam smiled at him, swiping at the tears that had been running down his cheeks. 

“Only because I heard Derek and Lydia shouting.” Sam mumbled, “I had a nightmare, and I couldn’t sleep, and I went to your room and you weren’t there, so I went to check the living room, and then I heard them shout just as I was coming to check the kitchen.” He explained tearfully.

“Hey Sammy, it’s okay, I’m fine, okay? I’m fine.” Stiles whispered, holding Sam in a tight hug as he cried into his chest, “It’s just a scratch, don’t worry, I’ll be fine in a few days.” Stiles said, wincing as Melissa pressed tightly against the wound, “You need to wash your hands.” He whispered and Melissa stilled, seeing the blood covering both hers and Derek’s hands. 

“Derek. Wash your hands. I’ll wash mine when I’m done. The rest of you, stay back. Noah, can you take Sam, make sure he gets cleaned up properly.” She instructed and Noah took Sam’s hand gently, observing the spots of blood on his arm, neck and cheek. Sam moved reluctantly, only going with Noah once Stiles had once again reassured him that he was fine, Peter left the kitchen at the same time and reappeared a few minutes later with a bottle of bleach and a pair of gloves. 

“The rest of you should go back to bed, I’ll get this cleaned up and we’ll be up when everything is cleaned up.” He said and everyone looked uncertainly at Derek before leaving the kitchen and heading back up to their rooms. 

“Thanks man.” Stiles muttered and Peter shrugged casually, cleaning up the blood as efficiently as he could while Melissa tended to Stiles’ wound as best she could. 

“You’re lucky, it’s not that deep. I’ll put some steri-strips on to hold it closed until it heals on it’s own, or until you have enough magic to heal it yourself. Thankfully, it’s not serious, a fraction deeper and he would have killed you instantly.” Melissa explained. 

“Thank god Lydia woke up when she did.” Peter muttered and they all nodded in agreement. Derek couldn’t help but watch Stiles, he couldn’t look him in the eyes, not after what he’d done in New York, but it didn’t stop him taking in everything about Stiles, the moles on his skin, the slight tremble in his long fingers, the scent of him, still somehow fresh and light and dangerous and home all rolled up in to one. Derek could have lost him tonight, in a split second, all because he hadn’t wanted to murder Theo in cold blood. He was an idiot. 

He waited until Peter had finished cleaning, until Melissa was pressing a plaster tight to Stiles’ skin to cover up the injury before he moved. He picked Theo’s body up and motioned that they should head back to bed, before he carried the body out of the back door and towards the preserve. Derek walked for the better part of two miles carrying Theo’s body, he didn’t feel guilty about killing him, it had been Theo or Stiles, it was a necessity. Still, he wished that it hadn’t come to this, that Stiles would have been able to use his magic to send Theo away, or that Derek had killed him before he almost lost Stiles and Sam. 

Eventually, when he reached the river, Derek lowered him to the ground, he shifted into his wolf and began to tear in to the body to make it look like an animal kill if anyone were to ever find the body, and, once that was done, he dumped the body in the river and watched the current take it away. He just hoped that it would carry it far enough that it wouldn’t end up on Noah’s desk in a few weeks time. Derek shifted back to human, washing his hands and face in the river before heading back towards the house. 

Stiles’ bedroom light was on as Derek approached the house, he wanted so badly to go up there, knock on Stiles’ door, check that he was okay and then get in to bed with him and hold him for the rest of the night. But, how could he? After what he’d done? No. It wasn’t right. He had to stay away from Stiles and he had to find a way to break the bindings. There was no other option. Instead he trudged up the stairs, past Stiles’ door, into his own room and collapsed on to the bed, determined to keep his distance.


	16. Chapter 16

After two days of everyone hovering around him like he was about to break, Stiles finally had enough magic to heal his injuries and he was so grateful. Not only because it meant he could move without his entire body throbbing in pain, but because it meant the pack were finally giving him a bit of space. It wasn’t that he didn’t like having them around, he did, it was just they were smothering him, he wasn’t even allowed to go to the bathroom without someone waiting outside in case he needed any help. 

It also didn’t help that Stiles was tired, so he was grumpy. Although tired was an understatement. He’d barely been getting any sleep, and he wanted so badly to ask Derek to come back, to stay in his room, to wake him up from nightmares and hold him in his arms until he could calm down enough to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t. Derek hadn’t even been able to look him in the eye since they’d first rescued Stiles, instead, if he was forced to speak to Stiles, his gaze would be fixed somewhere over Stiles’ left shoulder. Stiles knew it was his own fault, he couldn’t blame Derek for being distant with him, he just wished he knew how to fix things. 

“Right! Come on!” Danny snapped and Stiles blinked slowly, looking up at him in confusion. The library had emptied an hour ago and Stiles was fairly certain that he hadn’t taken in a word of Danny’s tutoring in the past twenty minutes. 

“Hang on, I can do this, just, say it again.” Stiles said, trying to concentrate on what Danny was saying and ignore the bone deep weariness that ran through his entire body. 

“No, forget it, you are done for the day, we both know it.” Danny said, shaking his head fondly, “How about we get out here? Go somewhere, get some fresh air or something? Or, that new Liam Neeson film is out, we could go watch that?” He suggested. 

“I don’t know dude, I’m pretty wiped out, and Sam will miss me if I’m not home for story time.” Stiles said, packing his books into his bag as he spoke. 

“Okay, so not the cinema tonight, maybe at the weekend instead? But you seriously look like you’re going to pass out if you don’t get some fresh air soon. Let’s go for a walk, it might clear your head?” Danny tried. 

“I actually feel like going for a run, I think I’ve got too much spinning around in my head right now, a run might be the best thing.” Stiles replied. 

“Great, I’ll come with you. We can go together, you know, make it a human outing, no wolves allowed.” Danny grinned and Stiles shrugged. 

“Yeah, that sounds good. I mean, Ally or Lyds might want to come to, and then if you ask them, you know Scott and Jackson are going to be coming because they can’t be separated, so maybe we don’t ask them. You don’t think they’ll be annoyed at not being invited? I just don’t want to have to do super speed running and waste my magic when it’s taken so long to get back to being at this level. Maybe we don’t bother, do it another time.” Stiles rambled. 

“No, don’t be ridiculous. We’ll go just the two of us, come on, we can get changed at mine and go for a run and you can be back in time to read Sam his story, sound good?” 

“Sure.” Stiles nodded in agreement, he was tired, but he knew going for a run would clear his mind if nothing else. Danny grinned almost excitedly and Stiles tried to feel equally as excited, instead he just felt exhausted, he packed the last of his belongings in to his bag and headed out of the library after Danny. 

Stiles started off slowly, jogging next to Danny easily as they made their way through the town, Danny’s clothes were a little bit tighter than Stiles was used to as he much preferred baggier clothes, but at least he could still breathe in them. He kept his phone handy, just in case Sam decided to call and continued through the town, if he was honest, he could have gone faster, but it was nice to run side by side with Danny and not have to use magic and not worry about the fact he was slowing him down. 

They ran for a good three miles before starting to head back towards Danny’s house where they’d left their cars, Stiles felt good for the run, his thoughts were less muddled than they had been previously, he was still tired and he still felt like he could drop at any second and he still had no idea what to do to be able to fix things with Derek, but at least he was certain that his brain didn’t feel quite so cluttered. There was something so freeing about running and Stiles loved it. He’d always been too uncoordinated to be any good at it before, but now he had magic, he seemed to at least keep his feet under him most of the time. He loved running in the morning more than in the afternoon, mainly because he enjoyed the crisp crunch of the ground under his feet, the cool air hitting his lungs as he inhaled, the quiet of his surroundings, like the world was just beginning to wake up around him. Still, afternoon running had it’s own perks, the feel of the sun beating down on him, the moment of cool air when he ran through a shadow, the sounds of the entire world around him seemed to fade into nothingness as Stiles listened to the breath entering and leaving his lungs. Even today, with his brain still thinking about how to fix things with Derek and how to make everything okay, he knew he felt better for the run and had thanked Danny for the suggestion.

Danny followed in his own car back to the Hale house and parked up behind Stiles’ jeep, following him into the house and calling out to the pack in greeting as they arrived. 

“I thought you were studying, why are you all sweaty?” Sam asked as soon as Stiles stepped into the doorway of the living room. 

“We decided to go for a run instead, no big deal.” Stiles said dismissively, “How are you getting on with your homework?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

“Those aren’t your clothes.” Sam pressed. 

“Well, no, I had to borrow some of Danny’s to go running. How were Liam and Tyler today? Have you asked them over for dinner one night?” Stiles queried, ignoring the way that the wolves were almost politely turning their noses away from him, apart from Derek, who gripped his chair tightly for a moment and then strode out of the room without a backwards glance, it was obvious Stiles had done something else to annoy him. 

“Derek said they could come over on Saturday for lunch if you didn’t mind.” Sam said excitedly and Stiles nodded. 

“Sure bud, that sounds great. We can have a BBQ if the weather is nice, maybe set up a den for you guys in the preserve to play in?” 

“What about a jungle gym? You know, that we can climb on and a slide and monkey bars and a swing?” Sam rambled, Stiles rubbed his hair affectionately. 

“’I’m sure we can put something together for you, maybe Liam and Tyler would like to build it with us?”

“That would be awesome! Thanks Stiles! You’re the best!” Sam grinned happily and Stiles couldn’t help but feel the warm glow of happiness in his chest at Sam’s praise. 

“So not going to the cinema on Saturday then, how about Sunday?” Danny asked and Stiles shrugged casually. 

“Sure dude, anyone else want to come? We were thinking of going to watch that new Liam Neeson film? If anyone fancies it?” Stiles offered to the room at large and several people nodded in agreement while his dad offered to watch Sam. “Okay, well I’m going to go grab a shower considering I obviously stink. Won’t be long.” He said, already hurrying up the stairs and into the bathroom. 

“Okay, well, actually guys, I was sort of planning on it being just me and Stiles.” Danny said as soon as Stiles was out of earshot, “So, would you all sort of find other things you could be doing, I’d really appreciate it.” 

“Why do you just want it to be the two of you?” Sam asked in confusion. 

“Well, um, you see...I’d like to take Stiles out on a date, which, it won’t be, if we have company.” Danny explained and Sam rolled his eyes in a fashion that reminded Danny of Stiles. 

“Stiles doesn’t want to date you. Derek’s in love with him.” Sam said simply. 

“What!?” Danny asked, stunned by Sam’s simple statement. “Derek is in love with him? Since when?” 

“Since always.” Scott input and Danny felt a little nauseous, how the hell was he supposed to compete with Derek? And, furthermore, how had Derek not already killed him for even flirting with Stiles as much as he had done? Not that Stiles had noticed. 

“Hang on, so, Derek is in love with Stiles...how does Stiles feel?” Danny asked and everyone was silent.

“When Derek tells him, he’s going to love him back. He has to.” Sam insisted but Danny looked at the rest of the pack who were glancing at the floor and none of them were willing to meet his eyes. 

“Stiles is a grown up, he can choose who he would like to date. If you want to ask him out, ask him out. If he’s not interested, then at least you know where you stand.” Noah suggested, “I don’t know how he feels about Derek, but I don’t know how Stiles feels about a lot of things. I am certain he’ll be honest with you about how he feels about you if you ask, so ask him. The worst that can happen is he says no.” 

“I was thinking more like ‘stealth date him for a while until he realises he’s in love with me’ kind of thing.” Danny replied awkwardly while the entire pack stared at him in astonishment, “But, I can see that that’s not going to work so I’ll have to change tactics.” 

“It shouldn’t be a game.” Derek snapped appearing in the doorway of the kitchen and glaring at Danny. He’d been hiding in there since Stiles had first arrived back, smelling of sweat and Danny, it had made him won’t to rip Danny’s throat out for covering Stiles in his scent, but he’d fought it, the same way he’d fought every one of his instincts recently. He really wasn’t happy to hear that Danny was trying to date Stiles, but he would just have to get over it, Stiles wasn’t a piece of property that Derek owned, and, yes, he was his master, but he didn’t want to be, and he wouldn’t stop Stiles from dating other people if that was what he wanted to do. What Derek really couldn’t stand though was the thought of Danny doing anything to upset Stiles, it was bad enough if any of the pack upset Stiles, but at least they weren’t doing it romantically. What if Danny broke Stiles’ heart? He shook the thought from his head, it was none of his business, Stiles could date whoever he wanted to. 

“It’s not a game. I know that.” Danny replied, trying not to sound as tense as he felt. He knew Derek was just being overprotective, and why wouldn’t he be, of course he cared about Stiles, but Danny liked him too, and, yeah, okay, Derek was the Alpha and Danny wanted to be part of the pack, so he didn’t want to piss the guy off, but still, Stiles was allowed to date whoever he wanted to. 

“Well, don’t say things about changing tactics, or trying to trick him in to a date. If you like him, tell him. Be honest.” Derek scolded. 

“Like you have?” Danny asked and Derek glared at him. 

“That’s different. I can’t tell him. I’m his ‘master’, I have control over him. I can’t tell him how I feel about him in case he thinks he HAS to feel the same way about me, or he HAS to do what I want, or, just, anything. I can’t tell him because I can’t put him in that position.” Derek growled in explanation and Danny couldn’t believe that Derek was willing to be so selfless, he didn’t know that he would do the same thing if he was in that position. He was just about to reply, explain to Derek that he was sorry for snapping at him and he understood, except Stiles chose that moment to return from his shower, looking around the almost silent room in confusion. 

“Did I miss something?” He queried suspiciously and everyone seemed to hesitate for a moment, uncertain as to how to react, Danny gritted his teeth and braced himself for humiliation, of course he hadn’t wanted to do this at all, never mind in front of the entire pack, but he had to show Derek that he understood what the man had said. 

“I was hoping the trip to the cinema could be just the two of us, like a date?” Danny blurted out and Stiles stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. 

“Har-har.” He said sarcastically. 

“I’m being serious.” Danny pressed. 

“Very funny.” Stiles replied, shaking his head in amusement. 

“I’m not joking. Stiles, I’d like to take you out on a date, if you want to?” Danny said seriously and Stiles finally seemed to realise that Danny wasn’t joking, that he was in fact being deadly serious. 

“Um…” Stiles started, looking like a deer in the headlights, Danny knew he should have been less direct about everything, but it was too late to back out now. 

“I mean, I like you, I think you’re funny and smart and I feel good when I’m around you…”

“Apart from when you accidentally tasted my blood, you didn’t feel so great then and you said you hated me, and I was a monster and you told everyone about my scars because you freaked out so much and…”

“I said I was sorry about that; you don’t still hate me for that?” 

“No, no, of course not. I don’t blame you; I never did, your reaction was totally understandable.” Stiles replied. “But, like, how did you go from that to this? Like, liking me? That’s…I don’t get it…at all…because, I mean, I…”

“I liked you before all that, don’t you remember? I was trying to ask you out when the baseball hit you. And I tried again since, like when Theo was outside, and again today, and we went for a run and it was fun and I’d just like to spend more time with you, the two of us, so how about it? Would you like to go on a date with me?” Danny queried, trying not to be embarrassed that the entire pack were watching the two of them with interest. 

“I…um…well…” Stiles began, flushing brightly and staring at the floor almost uncomfortably, “I don’t want to date anyone.” He blurted out and Danny tried not to take it personally, “I mean, it’s not you,” Stiles said, looking up from the floor to meet Danny’s gaze, “you are a great guy and I do enjoy spending time with you, but just as friends. I don’t want to date anyone. Not yet. I mean, yeah, I just…I’m kind of messed up, and, well, I want to feel better about myself before I go getting involved with anyone.” Stiles explained and Danny smiled hopefully. 

“So, you’d be open to me taking you out when you feel ready?” He tried.

“I’m not sure I’m ever going to be ready.” Stiles replied honestly, “Besides, you’re going to meet someone else that you like a hell of a lot more than me, and they’re going to be a lot better for you than I ever could be…”

“You don’t know that. I think we’d be great together.” Danny argued. 

“Maybe we would be. But I’m not ready to find out and I don’t expect you to wait around until I might possibly get my shit together enough to find out, so, I think we’re better as friends. Okay?” Stiles said. 

“Sure.” Danny said, he was a little bummed that Stiles had turned him down, but he guessed he could understand his reasoning, “You still want to go to the cinema as friends?” 

“Sounds good dude.” Stiles nodded in agreement, “The rest of you are still up for coming, right?” He asked the pack at large and there were several nods which helped Stiles to relax a little. He knew something had been wrong as soon as he stepped into the doorway of the living room, he had just never expected it to be that. 

“Well that was exciting.” Lydia commented and Stiles blushed again, trying not to notice as Derek left the room again now that the conversation was over, as if he couldn’t bear to be in the same room as Stiles, Stiles couldn’t exactly blame him. 

Before long Danny left for his own home, giving Stiles a reassuring pat on the shoulder, as if to tell him they were okay and Stiles was good with that. If he was honest with himself, the only person he’d even thought about being with was Derek, and even then that was because he wanted to spend time with Derek, admittedly he’d been happy to kiss Derek in New York, he’d maybe even wanted to go further, but he didn’t know how he’d feel if it actually had gone any further, he wanted to think that maybe he’d be okay with it, with Derek, because he trusted him and he felt safe with him. The honest truth was that Stiles didn’t know how he’d feel if he decided to get physical with someone, but he did know that he wasn’t going to test it out on Danny. 

Stiles headed upstairs with Sam, putting him to bed and telling him a story about a faraway land where there were dragons and unicorns and any other mythical beast he could think of, it didn’t take long for Sam to fall asleep and Stiles ran a hand over the young boys forehead lovingly before he left the room. 

He hesitated over what to do next. On the one hand he could go back downstairs, face the pack, no doubt deal with the teasing over Danny’s suggestion, and make Derek feel so uncomfortable that he would leave the room almost as soon as Stiles arrived. Alternatively, he could go to his bedroom, shut the door, try and do some homework, maybe get an hour or two of sleep before his nightmares woke him again. 

As much as he wanted to go and socialise with the pack, he knew that his presence made Derek uncomfortable, he wished he knew how to fix things but for now he would just keep his distance and hoped that it helped. He went into his room and shut the door silently behind him, staring at the room and at the books on his desk. He decided to do his homework first, since he knew if he started to research the bindings then he’d forget all about his homework. 

After an hour Stiles was done with his school work and he knew that he could quite easily go to sleep he was so exhausted, but he also knew that if he slept now then he would no doubt be awake again before the rest of the pack even went to bed. Instead he picked up the nearest book he could find and began to read, he was beginning to give up hope that he’d ever find a way to break the bindings, but he had to try, it was the only thing that kept him going, the idea that maybe at some point they would find a way to free him. 

Around midnight Stiles decided to head to bed, fully aware that once again Derek wasn’t going to come in and sleep next to him in order to wake him from his nightmares. He tried to think about happy things, about the fact he was home, with his pack, he tried to think about the feeling he had when the sun shone on his face, or leaves crunched under his feet as he ran, or the gentle breeze across his face as he walked through the preserve, he tried to think happy thoughts as he drifted to sleep, hoping that it would somehow help. 

It didn’t help. 

Stiles woke less than an hour later, screaming in pain as he woke, convinced he was dying as Kate stabbed him over and over, as she ordered him to wait until he was on the brink of death to begin healing himself, as blood flowed through his fingers as he tried desperately to hold his guts inside his body. He pulled his t-shirt up desperately, staring at the scarred skin of his stomach, no, it was fine, it was a dream. 

“It was only a dream.” He muttered out loud, swiping at the sweat on his forehead and ignoring the trembling in his fingers. He couldn’t face going back to sleep, going back to that nightmare, instead he threw back the sheets and moved to his desk, grabbing the nearest book he could reach and starting to read. 

Derek could see the bags under Stiles’ eyes, he knew he wasn’t sleeping well, he knew that Stiles needed to rest, properly rest, but he couldn’t bring himself to be that close to Stiles again, not knowing what he was capable of doing. It had been nearly a month since they’d arrived back from New York and Derek was doing his best to keep his distance from Stiles but it was so hard. He wanted to be with him, he wanted to laugh with everyone else when Stiles told a joke, he wanted to sit next to him and feel Stiles’ warmth, to know that he no longer suffered from the implant or the pain from his scars, that he was warm and safe and alive. But he couldn’t do it. Derek couldn’t be trusted. He knew this. So no matter how exhausted Stiles looked, Derek knew he couldn’t be the one to help Stiles, not until he could trust himself. 

Tyler and Liam had come over for lunch a few weekends ago and had spent the afternoon playing in the backyard with Sam, it was obvious that they were great friends and it was also obvious that they were in awe of Stiles. Despite the fact that Stiles was exhausted, he’d spent the afternoon in the preserve with them, building a giant jungle gym – with the help of the pack and more than a little magic when they weren’t looking – and Sam had gushed over and over about how awesome Stiles was and how great his stories were and how he always made time for him. Stiles had dismissed the compliments as nothing, that he hadn’t done anything special, or that any of the others wouldn’t have done, Sam had just shrugged and then returned to playing with his friends and Stiles had gone inside and up to his room, no doubt exhausted from using so much magic when he was barely able to keep himself awake as it was. 

Derek was sat in his office, he was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open, he’d heard most of the pack go to bed a few hours ago, he’d heard Stiles go in to the kitchen and get himself a glass of water almost an hour ago, muttering to himself that it was only a dream before heading back up to his bedroom. Derek had wanted to go and comfort him, but he knew he didn’t have the right, not after what he’d done in New York. Instead he was reading another book, determined to find some answer to their situation, he couldn’t keep doing this, he wasn’t strong enough to stay away for Stiles when he knew he was suffering and he could help, but he didn’t want to risk doing something stupid and giving in to his own desires again, not after Stiles had been so horrified the last time. 

He blinked, staring at the words in front of him sluggishly, he’d been on the verge of sleep, but something had caught his attention, he sat up straighter, blinked a few more times until the words were no longer blurred and began to read. 

He couldn’t believe it. It was here. The answer was right here. Except the more he read the more disgusted he became; this was the answer? The way to free Stiles? It didn’t seem fair or right or kind and Derek didn’t want to do this to Stiles, but he would have to, to break the bindings this is what he would have to do. 

Derek spent the rest of the night pacing in his office, unsure of what to do for the best, he could tell the pack and ask for their opinion, but if one of them told Stiles, it wouldn’t work. He could do it without their opinion, but if it didn’t work, they would never understand his reasoning. But he knew how to free Stiles now, he wanted to tell him, wanted him to know what would happen, but he couldn’t, because if Stiles knew the specifics of it, it wouldn’t work. Except Stiles was never going to forgive him. If he did this, Stiles would hate him forever. Still, he’d be free. He’d be free to make his own choices. Even though Derek wouldn’t be part of his life to see it. Because Stiles would never, ever forgive him. It was worth it though, wasn’t it? Years ago, Stiles had been willing to risk the destruction of his relationship with his father if it meant keeping him in the dark about the supernatural, if it meant keeping him safe. He would be alive. Even if he wouldn’t be speaking to Stiles. This was the same thing. Wasn’t it? Stiles would hate him. But he’d be free. He went over and over it in his mind, what choice did he have? He couldn’t tell Stiles. He couldn’t talk to him or ask his opinion. Stiles had been willing to let Danny rape him if it meant keeping him alive. They hadn’t been able to ask Danny’s opinion on it, but Stiles had still done it. Because it was the right thing. This was the right thing too. He knew it. He had to do this. The decision was made. He was going to do this. Derek knew he shouldn’t feel relieved, not with what he was planning, but he was so goddamn relieved that he had been the one to find it rather than Stiles, otherwise they stood no chance. 

Derek stayed in his office as the pack arose and got ready for school, all the time Derek was thinking over the information, trying to decide how best to handle it. There was a knock on the door, and he opened it, surprised to find Sam and Stiles both standing there. 

“Please can you take me to school this morning?” Sam asked and Derek glanced to Stiles, since they’d returned from New York, Stiles had been taking Sam to school and Derek had been picking him up and that worked well for both of them it seemed. 

“I already told him I’d take him, but he says he wants you.” Stiles supplied. 

“I want you both to take me. Tyler’s mom and Liam’s mom and dad want to talk to both of you about me going to theirs one night. So can we please go?” Sam practically begged and Derek nodded, leaving his office and locking the door behind him, he saw Stiles glance at him almost suspiciously and then look away quickly when he saw Derek’s eyes on him. He knew he was being weird, but if anyone else saw the book before he had a chance to think about how best to deal with this, he didn’t know what would happen. 

Derek drove in silence, keeping his eyes on the road at all times, Sam was too excited to notice the tension but Stiles was very aware of it, he didn’t even try and make eye contact, instead staring out of the car window and watching the scenery outside in a vain attempt to distract himself from Derek’s presence. 

As soon as they pulled up at the school Sam jumped out, grabbing Stiles’ hand and dragging him and Derek over towards where Liam and Tyler’s parents were waiting almost nervously. Stiles really wished he was back in bed. 

“Hi, you must be Sam’s...um...guardians?” Liam’s mom tried brightly and Stiles nodded politely. 

“Yeah, that would be us, I’m Stiles, this is Derek.” Stiles introduced them. 

“I’m Lorna, Liam’s mom, and this is Heather, Tyler’s mom, and my husband Steven.” She gestured to the two people stood on either side of her and they both nodded in greeting. 

“So, erm, Sam said you wanted to talk to us about letting him stay over at yours one night?” Stiles said, trying to break the awkwardness. 

“Yeah, yes, yes of course. Well, both boys had such a great time at yours the other weekend, building them that playground and everything, well, we thought, we should have Sam over, I know Liam would love to have him over for dinner, and I was thinking it would be great to have him stay over, with Tyler as well, but I know you are both kind of new to this whole thing, so I wanted to talk to you before I said it was okay, if you guys are okay with it?” Lorna explained. 

Stiles glanced to Derek who only shrugged in reply and Stiles fought the urge to roll his eyes at Derek’s unhelpfulness. 

“That’s a great idea actually.” Derek blurted out suddenly, looking more relieved than Stiles thought he should do. “It would be good for Sam to spend time with his friends, does tonight work for you?” He asked and Lorna looked a little caught off guard but nodded enthusiastically. 

“Sure, no problem, I can pick Sam up after school if you like? Although, I guess he’d need some clean clothes...”

“Not a problem, if you give us your address, Stiles can drop him some clothes off later on this evening? Around five?” Derek suggested and Stiles wrinkled his brow as he tried to figure out what was going on with Derek. 

“Great, does that work for Tyler too?” Lorna asked. 

“Yes of course, I’ll drop him some clothes off too, they’ll be so excited, I bet they won’t sleep all night, are you sure you’ll be okay with the three of them?” Heather said. 

“Of course, we’ll put a movie on and get some popcorn and sweets, it’ll be great fun, and Steven can show them some card games or something, can’t you hun?” 

“Yeah, won’t be quite as good as a playground in the preserve but I think they’ll enjoy it.” He said, looking a little annoyed and Stiles hoped he hadn’t pissed the guy off by giving Sam the playground he wanted, a moment later he decided it didn’t matter, he would raise Sam in the best way he knew how and he didn’t care if it annoyed somebody. 

“Okay, glad that’s sorted, I’ve got to get going, so can you give Derek your address and I’ll bring Sam’s things over later?” Stiles said, glancing at his watch and hoping he could make it in time to school by jogging there, because he really didn’t want to sit in silence with Derek.

“Oh right, you have school to get to, don’t you?” Steven said with a smirk and Stiles gritted his teeth in annoyance as Lorna slapped her husband on the arm. 

“Steven, don’t be rude!” She scolded then hesitated, “I just want to say, what you’ve done, taking Sam in, looking after him, especially when you’re still a kid yourself, both of you, to look after Sam, to raise him...parenting is a tough job at the best of times, and, well, the rumours circulating, it doesn’t sound like you’ve had the easiest lives, and I just want to say, if even half of what I have heard is true, then, looking after Sam, it’s something to be very proud of. You’re doing a great job and he’s a lovely young boy. You should be proud.”

Stiles and Derek both stared at her in amazement, glancing at each other as if unsure if they’d imagined this whole thing, before turning back to look at Lorna. 

“Um, thank you. That means a lot.” Stiles said. “Well, I’ve got to get going, so you’ll pick Sam up after school and I’ll call over about five with some pyjamas and things.” He confirmed, Lorna and Heather both nodded brightly and Steven seemed to clench his jaw before nodding as well. Stiles glanced to Derek, wanting some reassurance from him in some way, not entirely surprised when the man didn’t meet his eyes, “Okay, well, I’ll get off then. See you later.” He grabbed his bag, waved to Sam who was stood in the playground with Liam and Tyler and then rushed off towards his own school, hoping to avoid any further awkwardness. 

Derek felt sick, he was so terrified he thought he was going to throw up, his heart felt like it was racing much too fast, his blood pounding in his ears. He knew this was what he had to do, but the risk...god, if it failed, would the pack ever forgive him? Would Stiles? More importantly, would Stiles forgive him if it did work? He was almost certain he wouldn’t. But it didn’t change anything, he had to try. 

He hid in his office for the rest of the day, reading and re-reading the passage in the book, he didn’t expect to find any other information, he just didn’t want to face the rest of the pack, not yet, not until Stiles had left to take Sam some clothes. It was a blessing really that Sam wouldn’t be here, if it went wrong, or even if it went right, at least Sam wasn’t going to witness it. He heard the pack arrive home from school, he heard Noah, Melissa and Chris arrive back from work and a short while later he heard Stiles’ jeep leave to take Sam his pyjamas. As soon as Stiles had left Derek exited the office, heading in to the living room and calling out for everyone to be there in one minute, he heard a few hurried footsteps on the staircase and within a couple of moments everyone – bar Sam and Stiles – was gathered in the living room looking at him warily. 

“What’s going on? You look like shit.” Peter said and Derek gritted his teeth, holding tightly to the book in his hand. 

“I found something.” He began, feeling nauseous, if he told them, and if they told Stiles, there would never be another chance to free him, this was it. “Before I tell you anything, you have to swear to me, that you do not breathe a word of this to Sam or to Stiles.” 

“Derek, you’re scaring us.” Cora said. 

“I mean it. Your word. What I tell you does not leave this room. Understood?” He ordered, there were several small nods and Derek took that as they agreed, he took a steadying breath and continued, “I found a way to free Stiles.” 

“What!?” “This is great news.” “You had us all worried for a minute there.” “I can’t believe you found an answer.” “This is so exciting.” “I can’t wait to tell Stiles.” Everyone spoke over each other but it was that last sentence from Scott that meant Derek had to bring an end to their excitement. 

“No. Stiles can’t know anything about this. If he knows, it won’t work.” Derek said. 

“What won’t work?” Noah asked suspiciously and Derek felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as he forced the words out. 

“For Stiles to be freed from his bindings, I have to order him to kill me.” Derek said. There was a split second of silence and then there was uproar as everyone shouted in unison. 

“You can’t be serious!?” “Derek, you can’t die to free Stiles!” “We need you around!” “Please don’t do this Derek!” 

“Be quiet and let me explain.” He shouted over the noise and they all fell silent. “I didn’t say I would die. I said I had to order Stiles to kill me.” 

“Wait a second, Stiles can’t be ordered to kill anyone.” Lydia said. 

“Apparently that’s only if I was to order him to kill anyone else. If I order him to kill me, it’ll be an order he has to follow.” Derek began. 

“Which means you’ll die!” Isaac said looking distraught. 

“No, it doesn’t. Stiles can fight the order. It’s the one order that he can choose not to follow. It says that it’ll still be very painful for him, as in, a hell of a lot more painful than he’s experienced previously, but, if he fights the order and chooses not to follow it, then it’ll break the bindings.” Derek said and everyone stilled as they tried to process what Derek had said. 

“Start from the beginning.” Melissa whispered a moment later and Derek nodded. 

“Okay, so in here,” He gestured to the book, “It’s a diary entry from a master a couple of hundred years ago. He explained that he’d never wanted a slave, but that he’d acquired one, a similar kind of situation to ours from what he wrote. Anyway, he cared about his caster and he didn’t want to have her bound to him, so they talked about it, he came up with the idea that if she killed him, she’d be her own master, she didn’t want to do it, refused to do it. So, he ordered her. She fought the order with everything she had, and she did have to fight it, which meant that she would have had to carry out the order if she hadn’t fought. And, it was very painful, he says about how it was worse than anything he’d ever witnessed before, that she was in a lot of pain, and then, just when he thought that she would give in and follow his order, the bindings broke, the, um ‘power was released’ and she was free. He thinks it’s because he was willing to sacrifice his life to free her and that she was willing to stay bound to keep him alive, but, whatever the reasoning, it worked. And it can work again. But Stiles can’t know that he doesn’t have to follow the order, the guy tried it again, with another caster a few years later. He made it his mission to free them all, except he explained to this second caster that he didn’t have to follow the order and it didn’t work, the bindings didn’t break, he went through agony for no reason. And I won’t do that to Stiles. This is his chance to be free of the bindings. If he has to believe that he has to kill me to be free, then I’ll let him believe it.” 

“And if you’re wrong? If Stiles can’t fight the order and he kills you?” Jackson said as Lydia snatched the book from Derek’s hand and began to read to confirm what Derek was telling them. 

“I’m hoping it won’t come to that, but if it does, then maybe he’ll still be freed.” Derek replied. 

“You have got to be kidding!” Cora exclaimed. “Derek, you can’t bet your life on Stiles being able to disobey a direct order!” 

“Why not? Stiles is strong. He can fight it. I know he can. If he wants to.” He said. 

“And if he doesn’t want to?” Peter queried, “What if he wants to be free badly enough that he kills you?” 

“Well that’s something I’ll just have to hope doesn’t happen. But, if it does, it won’t be Stiles’ fault. I’ve wrote him a letter, explaining why I did it, in case the worst happens, can one of you give it to him for me?” 

“There’s no talking you out of this then?” Lydia asked. 

“No. The only way to stop me is to tell Stiles, and if you tell Stiles then he’ll never be free of the bindings, he’ll be bound to me until someone kills me and takes him from us. I don’t want that; I want him to be free.” Derek said solemnly. 

“So what’s the plan?” Noah said, gritting his teeth, knowing there would be no changing Derek’s mind on this. 

“You don’t need to do anything. When Stiles gets back, I’ll ask him to go for a walk with me. We’ll go out to the preserve, I’ll issue the order, if I survive, we’ll be back, if I don’t, well, maybe it might be a good idea for you to be there, to explain to Stiles what I can’t yet. Then give him the letter on my desk.” Derek said. 

“We could come with you, or you could do it here, there’s no need for you to do this alone.” Peter tried almost tearfully, it was obvious he didn’t want his nephew to do this by himself, that he wanted to be there for him. 

“No, I...if this goes wrong, Stiles already has enough bad memories in this house, I don’t want him to have anymore. Plus, if it doesn’t work, I kind of want to see the sun set one last time, I know how ridiculous that sounds but yeah, if it goes wrong, I want to be in the preserve. And, I think you need to give us a bit of a head start, if Stiles knows you are there, he might get you to intervene or say something that messes it up. We can’t take that chance.”

“Hang on, it says here about ‘the power being released’ and then it says about how ‘it changed her, she wasn’t the person I had known’, and it also says that she nearly killed him before she left for good because, ‘she would never have wanted her freedom like this’, what if this does something to Stiles? What if he gets his freedom but it changes him?” Lydia asked and Derek shrugged. 

“We all know Stiles, we knew him before he had magic, we know him now, whatever this does, he will still be the same Stiles. He won’t leave. He’s going to be pissed at me, I know that and I accept it. But you guys, you’re his family. He won’t leave you. And he won’t kill me, no matter how angry he is. God knows I’ve done a hell of a lot worse to him and he’s forgiven me.” Derek explained.

“I don’t like this.” Cora muttered, Derek pulled her in a tight hug. 

“It’s going to be fine; I have faith in Stiles. He’s going to beat this. I know he is.” Derek reassured her, not really expecting it, but definitely appreciating it when the entire pack gathered around him and hugged him, the fear and worry emanating from his pack was clear for all of them to smell as well as feel through their bonds. They stayed like that until they heard the rumble of the jeep approaching and Derek broke the hug, swiping at his eyes discreetly, noticing several of the others doing the same as they moved around the room, trying not to look suspicious as Stiles came through the front door. 

“Hey. Sam is fine, excited for the sleepover. I’ve told him to call us if anything is wrong and when he wants picking up.” Stiles said, glancing at the pack in bemusement when he realised they were all staring at him. “Everything okay?” 

“Fine.” Derek said tensely. “Actually,” He paused, “Stiles, I, um, need to go check something out in the preserve. Will you come with me?” Derek asked almost nervously and Stiles couldn’t help but feel worried, he glanced at the rest of the pack, the worry only increasing when none of them would meet his eye. 

“Yeah, okay sure.” He agreed hesitantly, trailing after Derek as he headed out of the back door and towards the preserve, staying a few steps in front of Stiles at all times. Stiles’ heart was racing with fear, he didn’t know what was going on and his mind was conjuring up so many different scenarios that he was sure he was going to explode, had Derek decided that enough was enough and he couldn’t stand to live in the same house as Stiles any longer? Or that he couldn’t even bear to have him in the pack? Was it a case of Derek would only keep Stiles around as long as they were bound to each other? He could understand why, but, god, he wished he could take back everything that had happened in New York, he wished he could take back so much of the wrongs that he had done in his life. 

“So what are we looking for?” Stiles asked after almost half an hour. 

“Nearly there.” Derek said as he wound through the trees, up a slight incline and broke through the treeline into a clearing. There was a cliff a few feet ahead of them and Derek moved to the edge so that he could look out over the preserve, the sun was just starting to set and Derek wanted to take in the scene for as long as possible. 

“Wow.” Stiles muttered, stepping to the edge of the cliff next to him and taking in the scenery, it was breath-taking and Stiles could stare at it forever. 

“This is my favourite place in the whole preserve.” Derek said quietly and Stiles glanced across at him. 

“I can understand that.” He replied, “So…um…it’s a gorgeous view, but...what are we doing here?” Stiles asked nervously. Derek sighed heavily, taking a steadying breath as if to prepare himself. 

“I found a way to free you.” He said abruptly. Of all the things Stiles had been expecting Derek to say, it hadn’t been that, and he was so caught off guard that he didn’t even know how to reply to that. 

“Right, um, so, that’s a good thing, right?” Stiles managed to stammer out. 

“Yeah, yeah it is.” Derek said, turning from the view to look at Stiles for the first time in weeks. 

“Okay, so, erm, could you maybe make it sound a little more like a good thing? Because you really don’t sound like it’s a good thing.” 

“I have to do something. Something that you are going to hate me for doing. But I have to do it. In order to free you.” Derek said seriously and Stiles really didn’t like how that sounded. 

“Okay, what kind of thing? Because, seriously, my freedom isn’t that important, I mean, obviously I want it, but, not if it’s upsetting you this much at the thought of it.” Stiles asked uncertainly. 

“I’m going to have to order you to do something. I know you said never to order you again, that you’d hate me if I did, that you’d never speak to me again, and I’m not going to blame you for that, at all. But I am going to do it. Because your freedom is the most important thing to me.” Derek said and Stiles paled. 

“I said I’d hate you if you didn’t talk to me about it. So talk to me about it. Tell me what you want me to do and we can discuss it like grownups.” He said gritting his teeth when Derek remained silent, looking pained almost. “Am I going to hate you for ordering me? Or hate you for the order? What kind of thing are we talking about here Derek?” He asked. Derek took another deep breath before looking around the clearing, if this didn’t work, if he died, then this was a good a place as any. 

“I’m so sorry.” He took a steadying breath, “Stiles, I…I order you to kill me.” Derek said loudly. 

“What?” Stiles blurted out, looking at Derek in shock, “No. No, Derek, just, no.” He stammered, already feeling the compulsion kicking in. 

“It’s the only way Stiles. For you to be free, you have to follow my orders, you have to do this.” Derek explained. 

“No, no, Derek, no, I can’t do this. I won’t do this. I’m not going to kill you, I won’t, and you can’t make me. You can’t order me to kill anyone; including yourself.” Stiles said. 

“I can. See?” Derek gestured to where black lines were already beginning to form on Stiles’ fingertips, “Stiles, you have to follow this order, I order you to kill me.” 

“Derek, no, I won’t this, I’d rather be bound to you for the rest of my life than kill you. I don’t care. I don’t care about being free. I won’t kill you.” Stiles said, gritting his teeth as pain began to overwhelm him.

“Stiles, I can’t keep doing this, I can’t keep being your master, I mean, look at what happened in New York, we both know I can’t be trusted with you. I can’t have that happen again.” Derek explained. 

“New York!? Derek are you kidding me!?” Stiles said incredulously, “That wasn’t your fault! It was mine! It never would have happened if I was more careful and I’m sorry. But don’t make me do this, I can’t kill you, I won’t kill you! Please.” He begged. 

“What are you talking about? Of course it’s my fault! I kissed you Stiles! I ordered you to kiss me!” 

“You didn’t order me to kiss you! And you wouldn’t have even kissed me if you hadn’t been exposed to my blood.” Stiles shouted. 

“What?” Derek whispered in shock, “Stiles…what? I wasn’t exposed…”

“Yes you were! I cut my finger and I rinsed it under the water and then next thing you are kissing me, you had to be exposed because why the hell else would you kiss me! Which makes it my fault! But, please, this isn’t worth you dying over! Please! Please take it back.” Stiles begged as the lines began to spread up his arms towards his neck. Derek tried to process what Stiles was saying and he clenched his jaw in frustration, he was such an idiot. How could he allow Stiles to think that? He moved forwards, cupping Stiles’ face in his hands. 

“Stiles, listen to me.” Derek said seriously, taking in the panic in Stiles’ eyes, seeing the pain there, “I didn’t kiss you because of your blood. I didn’t kiss you because of the incubus’ magic, although, yeah maybe it was a little bit enhanced because of that, but that wasn’t the reason why.” He said and Stiles’ brow furrowed in confusion for a brief second before Derek moved forwards and pressed their lips together. Stiles stilled for a second before he returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around Derek and tugging him closer almost desperately. “I kissed you because you are amazing and fantastic and…” Derek began as soon as the kiss broke. 

“Please, please Derek, please, I’m begging you, I’m begging you, don’t do this. Just take it back. Please.” Stiles almost sobbed, still clutching tightly to Derek’s arms as the black lines started up his cheeks. 

“I can’t, Stiles, I’m sorry. Your freedom is the most important thing to me. I have to do this. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but it’s the only way, I have to free you. I’m sorry.” Derek replied as Stiles grimaced, pulling away from Derek to throw up the vile black sludge on the ground. 

“No, no, please Derek, please.” Stiles begged as he threw up again, Derek knelt on the ground next to him, rubbing a hand along his back, trying to soothe Stiles as best he could. He could feel the rest of the pack approaching, no doubt picking up on Derek’s distress, they hovered in the treeline as Stiles tried unsuccessfully to get back to his feet, “Derek, please, take it back.” Stiles begged with tears in his eyes. 

“No. Stiles, I’m sorry, but you have to kill me. I order you to kill me.” Derek repeated as Stiles threw up again, almost choking on the sludge as his fingers dug in the ground to try and stop the trembling. 

“No, no, I won’t do it.” Stiles repeated as he threw up again, his whole body screaming in agony as he fought the order and had to claw at the ground in an attempt to steady himself in reality, he could feel Derek’s steady presence next to him, but his entire body was telling him to kill Derek, he had to kill him, it was the only way to make the pain stop, he had to make the pain stop. “No!” He growled, screwing his eyes shut and trying to block out the order as best he could. 

“Stiles, just, please, don’t make this any harder. Just follow my order.” Derek pleaded and Stiles glared at him with hate filled eyes. 

“No.” He snarled as he threw up again, heaving the black sludge up and coating the ground with it, Stiles’ skin was covered in the black lines and he was screaming in pain whenever he wasn’t being sick, it was obvious that Stiles was in agony and Derek wanted to take it back, tell him that he didn’t have to follow his orders, to forget all about it, it wasn’t worth this. Stiles screamed again, every muscle in his body was clenched so tightly that he could barely breathe, his body trembling under Derek’s touch, every time Derek inhaled all he could smell was the sheer agony that Stiles was in. 

“Stiles, I…” Derek had been about to tell him to ignore his order, to forget it, except, as he spoke, Stiles threw up again and Derek couldn’t help but notice instead of the usual black sludge, it was lighter, almost brown in colour. Stiles screamed, the pain was overwhelming, it felt like every atom in his body was being torn in two, he couldn’t survive this, he wouldn’t survive it, he wanted so desperately to make the pain stop, but the only way to stop it was to kill Derek and he wouldn’t do that. 

His whole body was trembling, he couldn’t even scream anymore, he could barely breathe, there was only the pain, the unbearable, unendurable pain. He threw up again, Stiles was too out of it to notice that it looked more like mud than the usual tar, he was in so much pain, but the only thought in his head was that he couldn’t kill Derek, that he wouldn’t kill him. 

Noah stood in the treeline watching the scene in front of him with terror, he could feel the pain coming off Stiles in waves, the grimaces from the rest of the pack told him that they could feel it too, Stiles was lay on the ground, his whole body practically convulsing as he fought Derek’s order with everything he had. Noah wanted to go to him, wanted to comfort his son, wanted to tell him that it was almost over, that it had to be almost over, but he couldn’t. Stiles had to believe that he was going to kill Derek, and he had to believe that there was no other choice for his freedom, he had to turn down the opportunity of his freedom in order to become free, it was the most ridiculous thing Noah had ever heard, but Derek was certain it was going to work. Noah just wished he knew how much longer it was going to go on, it had to be nearly over, please god let it nearly be over. 

Derek felt the ring begin to glow white hot against his chest and he pulled it out from under his shirt, staring at it in amazement as Stiles threw up again, this time it was almost clear, like water, and Derek had to believe that it was nearly over as Stiles convulsed on the ground in front of him. 

“Stiles, god, please, please you have to do it. Just give in. Stop hurting yourself. Just follow my orders and kill me. End it. Please.” Derek begged, tears in his eyes as he witnessed the pain that Stiles was in. The book had been right, this was worse than anything he had ever seen Stiles experience before, even after everything Kate had done, after what Gerard had done, after everything Derek had witnessed Stiles suffering through, the orders, the bindings, the nightmares, the implants, the pain, all of it paled in comparison to what was happening now. He hated that he was putting Stiles through this, hated that Stiles was hurting because of him, but it was the only way, he had to free Stiles, and they were so close, it had to be nearly over, surely it had to nearly over, Stiles wouldn’t survive much more, Derek wasn’t sure how much longer he could last either, seeing Stiles like this, hurting because of him, even knowing it was going to benefit him in the long run, it was the hardest thing that Derek had ever had to do and he hated himself for it. 

The ring seemed to be getting even hotter, so hot that it melted through the chain and fell to the ground where it glowed so brightly that Derek couldn’t even look at it, Stiles seemed to tense even further, if that was even possible, and he threw up again before coughing and spluttering as he seemed to be able to catch his breath for the first time in several minutes. Derek prayed that it was over, that it had worked, Stiles looked up from the ground, turning to look at Derek with despair, his gaze going to the ring on the ground a split second before he let out a guttural cry of sheer agony and the ring exploded. 

There was a blast of power that swept through the clearing, the trees surrounding them swayed ominously and the pack were all knocked to the ground. Derek had no idea how far the wave of power went, no idea just how far it expanded through the preserve, but right now he didn’t care, instead he was staring at Stiles. Stiles was glowing, much like the ring had been only moments before, Derek could barely look at him without squinting, his whole body was tense, every muscle so tightly strung that he didn’t even look to be breathing, his face contorted in pain, his body arching off the floor as it glowed bright white. 

Derek held his breath, not sure what was happening but hoping it was working, that the ring exploding meant that Stiles was no longer bound to him, or anyone else. The rest of the pack moved from the treeline, stepping in to the clearing as the glow surrounding Stiles slowly began to fade and Stiles lay on the ground, curled into the foetal position and panting for breath as tears streamed silently down his cheeks, his eyes scrunched closed as he trembled in place. 

“Stiles.” Derek said, crouching down and resting the palm of his hand on Stiles’ shoulder, “Stiles, look at me.” He muttered, Stiles continued to sob silently, shaking his head minutely, his eyes still scrunched closed as he pulled his knees closer to his chest, “Stiles, I am ordering you to look at me.” Derek said hopefully, almost collapsing in relief when Stiles still didn’t move. “It worked.” He breathed, looking at the rest of the pack with sheer relief when they all realised that it had worked. Stiles was free. “Stiles, Stiles, it worked, you’re free, the bindings are broken. You’re free.” Derek said excitedly, except Stiles still didn’t move and Derek began to worry, had something gone wrong? He looked to the rest of the pack, hoping that one of them had an answer, they all looked just as terrified as him. 

“Kiddo,” Noah said, crouching down next to Stiles and placing his hand gently over Stiles’, “Stiles, can you look at me please?” Noah tried and Stiles grimaced, shaking his head slightly as tears continued to stream down his cheeks. “It’s okay Stiles, it’s over.” 

“No, no, no.” Stiles mumbled, trembling in terror as he tried to curl himself into the smallest ball possible. “Please, make it stop.” He whimpered. 

“Make what stop? Stiles? What’s happening? Are you okay?” Noah asked with concern. 

“It hurts.” Stiles sobbed, scrunching his eyes tighter and letting out a moan of pain. Instantly there was panic, none of them knew what was happening, none of them knew why Stiles was in pain, they looked to Derek but he had no more answers than the rest of them. He thought it would work. It was supposed to free Stiles. He shouldn’t be in pain. Derek was terrified, what if he’d made everything worse? 

“Stiles, just, look at me kid, look at me, I’m right here, okay? I’m right with you, just look at me, please.” Noah begged and Stiles grimaced before finally opening his eyes and looking at his dad, everyone gasped in shock, Stiles’ iris's were glowing a vibrant, clear, beautiful gold and his pupils, although still black, were filled with what looked like thousands of tiny stars, it looked like the entire universe had been captured in Stiles’ eyes and Derek felt like he could get lost in them forever. 

“What the hell happened?” Jackson blurted out and Derek didn’t have any kind of answer for him, for any of them. 

“Hey there Mischief, now, tell me what hurts?” Noah said soothingly but Stiles seemed to panic even more at Noah’s words. 

“Dad, dad...” Stiles sobbed, “I can’t...I can’t see you.” He managed to stammer out and everyone froze in shock for a split second before surging forward and reaching out to touch Stiles. 

“What? What do you mean you can’t see us?” Scott asked sounding terrified. 

“What the hell do you think he means!?” Lydia shouted, rounding on Derek, “I told you! I told you something bad could happen! But you had to do it anyway! You didn’t know what half of that stuff meant, ‘it changed her’, ‘she would have never wanted her freedom this way’, you had no idea what it meant and what if this is it!? What if Stiles is blind!?” She screamed before turning back towards Stiles, “It’s going to be okay Stiles, it’s going to be fine, we’re going to fix this.” She tried to reassure him as she scowled at Derek. 

“I can’t...I can’t stop it.” Stiles muttered under his breath, still curled up into a ball as if afraid of letting go of himself, terrified that he would fall apart if he did. 

“Can’t stop what? Stiles, what’s happening?” Allison asked in worry. 

“I don’t know, it burns, god, it hurts so much. I can’t stop it. Make it stop, please.” Stiles begged, curling into a smaller ball, Scott reached out instantly and began draining the pain from Stiles, as soon as he started, he felt sick, how could someone survive being in this much pain? Scott was glad he was already kneeling on the ground, otherwise he was certain that his legs would have given out. A moment later everyone else followed his lead and together they began draining as much pain as possible from Stiles, the effect was almost instantaneous, all the tension seemed to leave Stiles’ body at once. He blinked uncomfortably a few times, relaxing for the first time when his dad’s face came in to focus. 

“Feeling better?” Noah asked, grimacing slightly as he drew more of Stiles’ pain. 

“Yeah, yeah I think so.” Stiles said, unclenching his muscles and sitting upright for the first time in what felt like days. 

“Take it slowly.” Melissa advised and Stiles nodded, looking like he was on the verge of being sick. “How’s your vision? Are you still in pain?” 

“My vision is fine.” Stiles said, adjusting slightly, “And, I’m not in pain anymore, I just feel...weird.” He surmised. 

“Weird how?” Peter asked with apprehension as he slowly lowered his hand from Stiles’ skin, it was obvious that he was ready to continue drawing pain if necessary, but that he wanted to see how Stiles was feeling now. 

“Like...overloaded I guess.” Stiles said, brushing the hands off him as gently as he could, and wincing slightly when there was still pain in his body, but it was more bearable than it had been and he could manage it, he knew he could.

“Slowly Stiles!” Melissa scolded when Stiles tried to get to his feet and his legs almost buckled. 

“I’m fine.” He said, “At least, I think I am. I just, I don’t know, it’s like, I can’t explain it, it felt like my insides were burning, like I was melting from the inside out, but...I don’t know, it’s not so bad now, like an adjustment or something.” Stiles said as the colour of his eyes began to fade slightly, his pupils were back to normal although there was still something otherworldly about the golden glow in his iris’s, Derek hoped that it would fade as well, given time.

“So, you feel okay?” Scott asked uncertainly and Stiles took a moment, obviously trying to assess his own body, flexing his fingers slightly, rolling his shoulders and rotating his head from side to side before nodding slightly. 

“Yeah, yeah, I think, I think I’m okay.” He replied. 

“That’s great news, oh thank god you are alright kiddo, you had me worried for a second there.” Noah said, resting a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “And it worked! You’re free! No more following anybody else's orders again.” Noah said happily. 

“Right.” Stiles said, turning for the first time to look at Derek, “Thank you so much for that by the way, I super appreciated being in complete agony as I tried desperately not to kill you without any fucking warning.” Stiles spat angrily and Derek grimaced, knowing Stiles had every right to be pissed at him. 

“I couldn’t tell you. If I told you, it wouldn’t work.” Derek tried to explain. 

“You think I care about my freedom!?” Stiles shouted angrily, “I could have killed you!” He shouted, there was a loud crack and one of the trees toppled over, only just missing Derek who was staring at it in surprise. 

“Was that you?” Derek asked with a raised eyebrow, Stiles was staring at his hands in horror. 

“I don’t know.” He said, sounding worried. “I didn’t mean to if it was.” Stiles confessed. 

“Well, this is all new, maybe not having a master means your magic...” Derek trailed off, his gaze unfocused as he thought about what he’d read, “’The power is released’. I thought it meant that the bindings break, but, what if, hear me out, we know that your magic was bound to the ring, that you had to obey the owner of the ring because your magic was bound to it, but what if, what if your magic wasn’t just bound to the ring, what if some of your magic was actually bound in the ring. So when the ring was destroyed, the power that was trapped in there, it was released back to it’s rightful owner. That’s why you felt overloaded, because you actually have all your magic now!” Derek said excitedly, trying not to think about what Stiles would be capable of now, if he hadn’t even been at full power before. 

“And you don’t think that maybe you should have, I don’t know, figured out what that might have meant before you did it!?” Stiles snapped, “Lydia said you didn’t have a clue about what the book meant. You had no idea what the consequences would be. You had no idea if it would even work or if I’d kill you. You had no right to do it without talking to me!” He seethed. 

“I told you, I couldn’t. It wouldn’t have worked if I told you that you could fight the order.” Derek explained, “Besides, I knew it would work. I knew you wouldn’t kill me.” 

“Really?” Stiles scoffed, rolling his eyes, “So why did you bring me to your favourite place in the whole preserve?” He asked and Derek froze, knowing he couldn’t respond to that without admitting that part of him had been prepared to die. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. You were willing to die. And you didn’t give me any kind of choice in it.” Stiles said, all of them looking upwards in astonishment when the clouds above them rumbled ominously and Stiles grimaced, gritting his teeth and trying to keep his magic under control.

“Are you annoyed that you could have killed me? Or annoyed that I didn’t give you a choice?” Derek queried sharply. 

“What does it matter?” Stiles replied. 

“Well, if you’re annoyed because you could have killed me, you don’t need to be annoyed because it’s over and I’m fine and you’re free.” Derek tried to reason. 

“And what? I’m supposed to be grateful for that? You have no idea how close I came to killing you! I would have killed you! You could have died Derek! And you would have made me a murderer! After everything Kate did, I told myself, I told myself that it wasn’t me, that I might have held them in place, that I might have been there, but I never killed them. I never gave the final blow. I told myself that I wasn’t a killer, even if I was a monster. And you! You could have taken all that away from me! You could have turned me in to a murderer just for my freedom! Do you really think I wanted my freedom that badly? I would have never risked it! I would have never wanted my freedom that way! You didn’t give me a choice! You just ordered me around like you always do!” Stiles shouted and Derek grimaced, he’d never thought about it like that. 

“I’m sorry. Okay? I’m sorry. But I had to. It was the only way. You think I don’t know how much I kept messing up? I made a mess Stiles, of everything. I ordered you to stay in the house when Gerard came, I ordered you to silence the pack when we found out about him, even if that one was accidental, and then what happened in New York...I just, I couldn’t do it anymore. I just kept thinking how badly I’d messed up and how literally anyone would be a better master than me, and this was just...it was the only way. And, yeah, there was a risk that you might kill me. But I wanted to believe that you wouldn’t. Not just because of who you are, but because, well, you said I didn’t order you, that the only reason you said to stop was because you thought I was under the influence of your blood, which means you must have wanted to, which means you must love me as much as I love...”

“No! No! Just stop! Stop! I don’t care! I don’t care how you feel! And you don’t get to tell me how I feel! God, I don’t even know how I feel! All I know is that the sight of you makes me sick! You took my choice away from me, again!” Stiles screamed, looking on the verge of tears as lightning split the sky and hit a tree nearby, Stiles grimaced, clenching his jaw tightly before spinning on his heel and heading back into the trees. He couldn’t be here. His magic was sparking out of control and the longer he stayed the angrier he got and that meant he had even less control of his magic, he couldn’t risk hurting one of them until he calmed down.

“Stiles, wait! Just, wait, please, let me explain.” Derek called out, rushing after him, ignoring the stink of Stiles’ magic that was flooding through the clearing with a strength Derek had never experienced before, Stiles flicked his fingers and Derek hit an invisible wall, separating him from Stiles who hadn’t even turned to look at him. 

“Stiles, wait up buddy, I’ll come with you!” Scott called, going to move after him when he too hit the wall that Stiles had thrown up. 

“You think you’re any better than him?” Stiles snarled, turning to address the rest of the pack, glaring at them in anger as they all stilled in surprise at the venom in Stiles’ voice. “You knew what he was planning and you did nothing! You let me go through that! You let him risk his life! You put me through agony. You had no idea what could happen. You had no idea of the consequences. You did it without regard for my feelings, or for my choices. You all agreed to this! You all took away my choice! Took away my say in what happened to me! You are just as bad as him and I don’t want to be around any of you so just leave me the hell alone.” Stiles growled, turning back and heading back into the preserve as thunder rumbled above them and the heavens opened, rain pouring down and pelting them with enough force that red marks appeared on their bare skin.


	17. Chapter 17

Stiles had no idea where he was going, and if he was honest, he didn’t care. He was confused and his chest throbbed painfully which he assumed was his magic, but he didn’t know for certain. He was also angry. He wasn’t sure which emotion was prevalent, he just knew that he couldn’t be around anyone right now, his head was spinning, his heart racing. He was free. He wanted to be happy about that, he wanted to revel in the fact that he would never have to obey anyone again, but he was just so hurt, so scared, so angry and so confused. He had been terrified, completely and utterly terrified that he could have killed Derek, and then afterwards, Derek’s confession, that he loved him, because Stiles knew that was what he’d been about to say. He didn’t know exactly how Derek loved him, as a friend? As a pack member? As a fuck buddy? It was a possibility because Derek obviously enjoyed sex with people, Stiles knew that much for certain and Derek had said it himself. But did Derek mean that he loved Stiles like he actually loved him? That he wanted to date him? Be with him? Put up with all his crap? Stiles scoffed, shaking his head, Derek would never want that. Stiles was a mess, he had nightmares and scars and he was most definitely fucked up in the head. Derek could never want that. And even if he did, it would only be as a quick fuck, Derek had already said he didn’t do serious, that he never spent more than one night with any of his hook ups. Not that any of it mattered, not really, even if Derek asked him to marry him right now Stiles would still be tempted to punch him in the face. 

It had taken everything he had not to punch Derek as it was, and he knew his magic felt the same way if the way it throbbed almost victoriously when they’d kept Derek and the pack away from him with the invisible wall was any indication. He didn’t even want to think about what Derek meant about loving him, that wasn’t important, not now, all he could think about was how angry he was. He was infuriated that Derek had taken the decision out of his hands once again, hadn’t he dealt with that enough? Hadn’t he had to manage Kate ordering him around? And he’d survived that, but Derek doing it, on purpose, after Stiles had told him not to before, it just felt like such a betrayal, even knowing he’d been doing it to help Stiles, it still felt like a betrayal, and the pack all knowing about it, going along with it, deciding what was best for him without talking to him about it, he just...he couldn’t deal with it, he just wanted to forget all about it, he could barely breathe he was so angry, so grief stricken. 

He didn’t feel the rain pouring down and pricking his skin, he didn’t hear the way the thunder rumbled in the sky above him or the trees creaked and swayed threateningly in the sudden storm, he didn’t see the way the ground almost trembled beneath his feet as he walked. No. Stiles was too wrapped up in himself, in his emotions, in the strange numbness that was taking over as his anger seemed to fade as the grief and hurt of this betrayal took over.

He’d barely taken more than a dozen steps when the pain began again, it was so overwhelming he could barely think, he collapsed to his knees as his vision vanished and everything went black. Stiles cried out in pain, it felt like his body was about to explode, he tried to get to his feet, reaching out for something to guide him, instead he stumbled, tripping on an exposed root of some kind before he fell to the floor, hitting his head on something sharp as he tried to roll slightly to protect himself from the impact. 

He pulled his phone from his pocket with trembling fingers, the blackness of his vision was terrifying, losing one of his senses hadn’t miraculously instantly increased the ability of his other senses, he was unable to tell what buttons he was pressing to even unlock it, he kept trying until it slipped from his numb fingers, he scrabbled around in the dirt, trying to find where it had fallen to, but no matter where his fingers landed, they always came up empty.

“Help me. God, please help me, make it stop, please.” Stiles cried out, wincing as the rain hit his skin and it felt like icicles were being driven an inch deep into him, as the wind blew through the trees with such force that his pleas were silenced before they’d even left his lips. He tried to breathe through the pain, tried to focus on controlling his magic enough to stop the storm but he couldn’t, instead shivers wracked through him as he tried once again to get to his feet, stumbling blindly through the preserve until he tripped again. This time he couldn’t find the strength to get back up, instead the pain washed over him like nothing he’d ever felt before and he screamed. 

Derek knew that Stiles had every right to be angry at him, he’d expected it. He hadn’t expected for Stiles to be angry at the pack as well, it wasn’t their fault, they’d just agreed to go along with Derek’s plan, knowing that if they told Stiles, it would be unlikely they’d ever find another way to free him. Derek truly hadn’t expected for Stiles to storm off and keep them all away from him like that, even after Stiles had vanished from sight, even after he’d moved far enough away that Derek could no longer hear his racing heartbeat, the invisible blockade kept them from him. 

They’d taken to sheltering under the trees as the storm around them only seemed to get worse, as the trees swayed angrily, almost ready to break under the force of the wind that battered them relentlessly. Derek didn’t know what to do, he knew he needed to fix this somehow, he also knew he probably needed to give Stiles some space but he was desperate to make things up to him, to explain that this had been the only choice, that Stiles wasn’t allowed to know, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the option of becoming free. 

The storm only seemed to get worse, rain was coming down in torrents and lightning split through the sky every few seconds, the wind buffeted them backwards whenever they tried to take a single step and Derek wouldn’t deny that he was panicking slightly at the force surrounding them, knowing that at least to some extent, Stiles was responsible for this. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and for one brief second he was convinced it was Stiles, he pulled it out, doing his best to shelter the phone from the wind and the rain. 

“Stiles?” He shouted. 

“No? No. It’s, um, Lorna.” Lorna replied and Derek couldn’t help the confusion for a split second before he really began to panic, why was Lorna calling him this late? 

“What’s wrong? Is Sam okay?” Derek asked with sudden worry. 

“I...He’s run off, him and Liam and Tyler. They’ve all gone out in this storm. I can’t find them! Steven is out looking for them but we hoped they might have come to you.”

“No, no, we’re not...we’re not at the house. But we’ll head back now, in case they’re there.” Derek said. 

“There was this big blast, like a wave of wind, it just tore through the town, uprooted trees and everything, then Sam started saying that something was wrong with Stiles, that he needed to get home. I told him everything was fine, that you were all fine, and I sent them back to bed. Then the storm started about ten minutes after, and Liam is always a little nervous with lightning, so I went to check on him, except none of them were there and the window was open and I know they’ve gone out looking for Stiles, and I just...oh god...if anything happens to them...my baby...I should have just taken Sam home when he said something was wrong...this is all my fault.” Lorna said, dissolving into tears. Derek couldn’t even process the fact that the release of Stiles’ magic had been felt through the town, that would be a thought for another time when they were warm and dry and safe and together.

“Lorna, listen to me,” Derek shouted over the wind, “This is not your fault. We’ll find them. Okay? We will find them. Nothing is going to happen to them. I promise.” Derek said firmly before hanging up the phone and trying Stiles’ number, he needed to get Stiles to stop this storm before somebody got hurt. If anything happened to Sam, or anyone else, then Stiles would never forgive himself, of course that meant that Stiles’ phone went straight to voicemail. “Stiles! Stiles you have to stop it! Sam is missing! He’s out in the storm! You have to stop!” 

The rest of the pack gathered around him, as soon as they heard his message to Stiles they all tensed, looking around as if expecting Sam to appear between the trees. 

“Okay, I need some of you to head back to the house, see if Sam, Tyler and Liam are there. If they are, keep them there. Then call me.” Derek instructed. 

“I’ll take Allison, Melissa, Danny, Chris, Peter and Boyd.” Lydia instructed and they looked at her in annoyance, “If this storm gets worse, humans shouldn’t be out in, the wolves stand a better chance. If it gets worse before we get back to the house, we need some wolves with us in case we need digging out from under something big. Apart from Derek; Isaac and Cora have the best hearing and Boyd and Jackson have the best sense of smell. There’s no way that Scott or Noah are going to leave while Stiles is still out here and there’s no point in arguing with Erica because I know she’ll use the whole ‘Stiles is my Alpha too’ argument and it’s wasting time. Agreed?” She explained quickly. 

“Well, Stiles is my Alpha too. I should stay too.” Boyd commented and Lydia glared at him, “Never mind. I’ll come with you.” He said, glancing at Erica who gave him a shit eating grin for a split second before turning her attention back to Derek. 

“Okay, great, you guys get going. Call me when you are home so I know that you got there safely.” He said as they set off. 

“So what’s our plan? We can’t search the entire preserve for them?” Jackson asked. 

“No, we need to get to Stiles. He’s the one that can stop the storm. We need to get around the wall, it can’t go on forever. I want half of us to take one direction and the other half to take the other. There has to be an end. Find it. Get to Stiles. And, if you pick up anything on the kids in the meantime then follow it. Got it?” Derek instructed as they all rushed off in in opposite directions. 

The storm only seemed to get worse as Derek ran his hand along the invisible wall, hoping to feel a break of some kind to get through and find Stiles, to get him to stop this storm before someone got hurt. He had to shove Isaac out of the way of a falling tree and he cursed when they only just avoided getting crushed as Noah checked them both over to make sure they weren’t hurt, this was getting completely out of hand, the only blessing was that Lydia called a few minutes later to say they were home safe, even though there was no sign of the kids. 

Cora wanted to scream, the rain was coming down so heavily that she could barely see a foot in front of her, she was soaked through to the bone and even running at werewolf temperature, she was shivering slightly. She was terrified, scared of the storm, scared of the display of power, scared at just how mad Stiles must be to be causing this, but, whatever fear she was feeling, she pushed it aside, Sam was out here, they had to find him, she knew Stiles and Derek would be devastated if anything happened to him, but they wouldn’t be the only ones, Sam meant too much to all of them for them to lose him. 

She heard a shout from up ahead and froze, Jackson nearly running in to the back of her as she came to a standstill. 

“What is it?” Jackson shouted and Cora cocked her head, trying to hear it again, squinting slightly to try and see through the rain. 

“I thought I heard something…” She muttered, still listening intently, “There!” She said when she heard another shout and she rushed forward, grabbing hold of a tree trunk to stop herself from slipping and then let out a sigh of relief when she caught sight of three kids slipping and stumbling through the rain. “Sam!” She called out. 

Sam looked across when he heard Cora shout his name, glancing back at Liam and Tyler. They were soaked through to the bone and shivering violently but they were determined to follow Sam, believing him when he told them that something was wrong with Stiles. 

They’d been in Liam’s house, talking about something that had happened at school that lunchtime, when they’d felt a blast of wind blow through the entire town. Sam felt it instantly, he knew that something was wrong with Stiles, he could feel it like an ache in his gut, he’d tried going to Lorna, tried to tell her that something was wrong, but he could tell she didn’t believe him, that she just thought he was homesick or something. Instead he’d rushed back to the room, telling Liam and Tyler that he had to leave, because Stiles was in trouble and he needed to help him, they’d believed him instantly, and the three of them had climbed out of the window and headed in to the oncoming storm. 

Sam had led them in to the trees with certainty, he could feel Stiles in a way he’d never felt him before, it was like he knew exactly where Stiles was and although he couldn’t say exactly what Stiles was feeling, he could feel enough to know that something was wrong and that Stiles needed him. He hadn’t expected the force of the storm but he couldn’t turn back, they were close, he knew that, he shouted as much to the other two, that they were nearly there, and then Cora was shouting him, and a moment later, Cora, Jackson, Scott and Erica were there, rushing towards them, scooping them up in to their arms and checking them for injuries. 

“Stiles? Is he okay?” Sam asked over the howl of the wind. 

“Don’t worry. Stiles is fine, let’s get you out of this storm.” Jackson tried to reassure them, pulling them away from the direction that Sam knew Stiles was in. 

“No! No, he’s in pain. He needs me.” Sam shouted, digging his heels in to the ground as the older wolves froze in surprise. 

“What? What do you mean? Can you feel Stiles?” Cora said quickly as Scott was already calling Derek to tell them that they’d found the kids. 

“Yeah, yeah, he’s this way.” Sam said, pointing behind him, Cora looked to Jackson, Erica and Scott who all shrugged uncertainly, if they found Stiles, it would mean they’d be able to stop the storm. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Scott said, turning Sam around and pushing him in the direction he’d pointed. 

Liam and Tyler followed after them in astonishment, taking shelter under Erica and Jackson’s arms as Sam led the way. Cora knew they were about to hit the invisible wall that Stiles had created except when Sam reached his hand out, it passed through the wall without issue and they surged forwards, running after Sam as they led them towards Stiles as Scott stayed on the phone to Derek, keeping them up to date on what was happening.

“Cora!” Derek called out a couple of minutes later when he spotted his sister running through the preserve, “Sam! Oh thank god! Are you okay kiddo? Are you hurt? What are you doing out here?” Derek scolded, checking him over for injuries and then pulling him in to a tight hug. 

“Stiles is hurt. He needs me.” Sam replied, pulling away from Derek, grabbing his hand tightly and then leading him in the same direction he’d been leading the others, “He isn’t far. I can tell.” Sam shouted over the rain and the wind, swiping at his face to clear his eyes as he moved forwards. 

Derek heard it a few moments later, the sound of Stiles’ cries of pain, he let go of Sam’s hand, making sure Noah grabbed hold of him before following the sound of Stiles’ voice and running towards him. 

Stiles was curled up on the ground, he was covered in mud, his clothes stuck to his skin which was ice cold, there was a large bruise forming on his temple and blood running down his face, Stiles had his arms curled around his knees, his eyes scrunched shut tightly as he rocked slightly, his breath coming in huge gasps as he let out sobs of pain. 

“Stiles! Stiles, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here.” Derek said, rushing forward and reaching out to touch him, wincing when Stiles flinched away from him. 

“Make it stop, please make it stop.” Stiles sobbed and Derek could smell the pain wafting from him, he reached out instinctively, planning to drain Stiles’ pain, the strength of it caused Derek’s knees to give way and he fell to the ground next to Stiles. 

“I’m here kiddo, it’s okay, just, stop the storm and then we can fix this.” Noah said, crouching down next to Stiles. 

“I don’t know how.” Stiles gasped in between breaths, “I can’t control it…I’m not doing it…I can’t stop it…please…please make it stop, it hurts…it hurts so much…I’m going to explode.” 

Derek couldn’t help but admit it did indeed look like Stiles was about to explode, his whole body seemed to be glowing, his eyes were glowing bright gold again as tears slipped down his cheeks. He didn’t know what was happening, but it was obvious that Stiles was in agony, and Derek could only blame himself, this was all his fault. He shouldn’t have rushed things, he should have tried to find out more about what the book had meant, but, no. He’d had to rush into things and now look at what he’d done, Stiles was in agony and it was all his fault. 

“Alright, okay, we need to stop the pain.” Scott said, trying to drain some of Stiles’ pain, falling to his knees within seconds and pulling his hand away like he’d been burned as Stiles rolled to his side, throwing up from the pain, Derek could only be relieved that it was normal sick rather than the usual sludge. 

“Please…make it stop…please.” Stiles whimpered and they all looked to each other helplessly, none of them had any idea how to help or what they could do to assist Stiles, Sam moved closer to him, looking to Derek for some kind of solution but Derek didn’t know what to do, what was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to help? How was he going to fix this? 

“I’ve got an idea.” Jackson said suddenly and everyone looked to him, “We need to buy ourselves some time until we can figure out what’s wrong with him.” Jackson continued and they all nodded in agreement. “Okay, good, sorry about this Stiles.” Stiles was too out of it to really pay attention to what Jackson or the others were saying and Jackson was grateful for that, he felt bad enough about doing this, he felt even worse that Stiles wouldn’t even see it coming, but right now, it was the only idea they had. The others didn’t even have time to react as Jackson lashed out, punching Stiles in the jaw as hard as he could and knocking him out instantly. 

There was silence, all of them staring at him like he’d lost his mind before suddenly the wind went silent, the rain stopped falling and the clouds dispersed to show a clear night sky with stars twinkling far above. In the sudden silence it felt like Derek would be able to hear a pin drop a mile away, he hadn’t realised just how loud the storm had become until it was no longer there. 

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Scott said, flashing golden eyes in Jackson’s direction. 

“I bought us some time, none of you were coming up with any other ideas, besides, it worked.” Jackson shrugged, looking to Derek who grimaced but nodded, he might not like it, but at least the storm had stopped and they had a bit of time to figure out what was going on. 

“Um...so....that storm...was Stiles’ magic?” Liam said from nearby and all the wolves turned to look at where he and Tyler were waiting silently, if Derek was honest with himself, with all the adrenaline of the last few minutes, he’d kind of forgotten all about them. He knew he needed to call their parents and let them know they were fine, no doubt they were going out of their minds with worry, but he also knew there would be a lot of unanswered questions if they came out here now. 

“You told them about Stiles’ magic?” Erica said in astonishment and Sam shrugged quietly. 

“They are my best friends; they aren’t going to tell anyone. They promised, and they’ve known for ages, and they haven’t said anything to anyone.” Sam insisted. 

“Sam, you shouldn’t have told them. They’re humans, they shouldn’t know about our world.” Isaac tried to explain but Sam shook his head. 

“We can talk about it after you tell me what happened to Stiles. He was fine when he dropped my clothes off, what happened?” Sam asked. 

“That’s not important.” Derek said after a moment of awkward silence, “Not right now anyway. Let’s get all of you back to the house and then we can call your parents and let you know you are okay, then we can deal with whatever is going on with Stiles, okay?” Derek said and everyone nodded in agreement. 

Derek slung Stiles over his shoulder, glad that Stiles didn’t seem to be showing any signs of regaining consciousness just yet, he wanted to at least get inside before the storm started again. Noah grabbed Sam, Isaac picked up Liam and Jackson put Tyler on his back before they all jogged at a quick pace back through the preserve until the house came into sight. They were barely halfway across the front lawn when the door opened and the rest of the pack came flooding out, checking firstly on the kids and once they had reassured themselves that they were fine, they turned their attention to Stiles. 

“What happened to him? Is he okay?” Lydia asked, taking in the blood at Stiles’ temple and the beginnings of a bruise on his jaw. 

“I happened to him.” Jackson said, “He’s just unconscious, and it’s only until we figure out what happened.” He explained as the others looked at him in shock. 

“Let’s take this inside, then we need to call Liam’s and Tyler’s parents and let them know they’re okay. Then we’ll deal with everything else.” Derek instructed, carrying Stiles into the house and depositing him on the nearest sofa as everyone gathered around, he grabbed his phone as soon as he could, knowing that Lorna was probably going out of her mind, he knew he would be in her situation. 

“Derek?” She answered on the second ring and he could hear the terror in her voice clearly. 

“We’ve got them. They are safe, a little wet and cold but completely unharmed.” He told her. 

“Oh thank god. Thank god. Oh god. I thought, for sure…oh, just, thank god they are okay. I’ll call Heather now, let her know, just, oh thank god, thank you, thank you so much. I’ll come and get them once I’ve called Heather.” Lorna rambled, her voice flooded with relief as she told Steven that the kids were safe. 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s late, we’ve got a spare room here, I’ll bring them home in the morning if you like?” Derek said. 

“No, I mean, I couldn’t…I don’t…and they’re definitely okay?” She muttered, Derek held the phone out to Liam who rolled his eyes before taking it. 

“I’m fine mom, we all are.” Liam said. 

“Oh thank god! What are earth were you thinking baby? Anything could have happened to you! I was terrified, we’ve been going out of our minds!” Lorna scolded. 

“I’m sorry mom, I didn’t mean to scare you, just…we, um…there’s not a good excuse. I’m sorry.” Liam apologized, “We really are okay though. I promise, we’re all okay.” He insisted. “We’re fine here, Cora said she’d make us hot chocolates and Allison has gone to get us some dry clothes, we’re fine mom. Let us stay here tonight and I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” Liam said. 

“Let me talk to Derek again.” Lorna said and Liam handed the phone back, “Are you sure you don’t mind? I’m happy to come and get them if you want?” 

“Honestly, we don’t mind having them for the night, they’re exhausted so we’ll get them to bed and I’ll bring them home in the morning.” Derek insisted. 

“Okay. Sure. And…Derek…thank you. If anything had happened to my boy…I just…thank you so much. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.” Lorna said. 

“It was nothing. I’m just glad they are okay. I’ll see you in the morning.” Derek said before ending the call and looking at the three kids, “Alright you three, upstairs, showers, dry clothes and bed. Understood?” 

“Derek…” Sam whined.

“No Sam! I mean it. You snuck out in the middle of the night, you terrified all of us. You could have been hurt; you could have been killed! Just because you were lucky enough to be okay doesn’t mean it was okay to do it. You risked your life and the lives of your friends and for what?” Derek snapped. 

“Stiles needed me! He was in pain and he needed me!” Sam argued, “Without me you wouldn’t have even found him and you still haven’t told me what’s wrong with him! Why was he out there by himself? Why was he in pain? What’s wrong with him?” 

“Now isn’t the time for this Sam!” Derek shouted.

“And now isn’t the time to be having this argument. Stiles is in a bad way; we need to figure out what went wrong and we need to fix it. Where’s the book? Maybe there’s something we missed.” Scott said, looking around the room until his eyes landed on the book lay on one of the tables and he stormed over towards it, picking it up and flicking through the pages quickly. 

“What book? What went wrong? What is going on?” Sam said heatedly from the doorway. 

“Sam…” Derek tried to argue. 

“Enough!” Noah interrupted, “Stiles needs our help, Scott is right. You can yell at Sam for being reckless once Stiles is okay. Besides, with you and Stiles as role models, do you really blame him for acting before thinking?” He said and Derek flushed furiously, gaping at Noah for a moment before ducking his gaze and nodding. 

“Alright, fine, so, what do we do?” Derek said, moving towards the book. 

“Can someone please tell me what is going on!?” Sam shouted loudly and Melissa put an arm around his shoulder to try and calm him down. 

“Sam, sweetie, you see, we found a way…a way to….well, the important thing, what matters is…Derek isn’t Stiles’ master anymore, in fact, he doesn’t have a master at all, because he’s free.” Melissa explained as quickly as she could. 

“Are you…are you serious? But…how? When? Why didn’t anyone tell me? What’s wrong with him? If he’s free, why isn’t he okay?” Sam quizzed, rushing to Stiles’ side. 

“We don’t know.” Lydia said, “The ritual broke the bindings, Stiles is free, but we think that it did something to his magic, unleashed unknown potential or something.” She snatched the book from Scott and began pouring through it’s contents, desperate to find something to help. 

“Okay, well, let’s run though what we know.” Cora said, “Derek broke the bindings, the ring disintegrated, there was a blast of magic, Stiles was still in pain, he was blind, we drained his pain and he could see again, then he got angry, and he didn’t seem to have control of his magic and he stormed off.” She paused, “And at some point Sam felt Stiles’ pain, so maybe the blast of magic did something to him? Or to everyone?” 

“And what about when you found him? What kind of state was he in?” Allison said. 

“He was in a lot of pain again, and his magic seemed to be completely out of control, and he couldn’t see, he was blind again.” Isaac surmised. 

“Okay, and then he passed out?” Boyd asked. 

“Um, well, then I knocked him out.” Jackson said and those that had been waiting in the house all stared at him in amazement. 

“I’m sorry, you what?” Lydia hissed, looking up from the book. 

“It had to be done. He was in pain. He couldn’t control his magic. I bought us some time. And it stopped the storm so we could get back here in one piece.” He explained. 

“He’s right. He bought us a bit of time, but we don’t know how long, so let’s focus on the one thing that matters right now. If Stiles wakes up and still can’t control his magic, we don’t know what might happen.” Derek said quickly. 

“Alright, but we’ve gone through the book already, we know what it says, ‘released the power’ which we now assume was not the bindings breaking but the release of trapped magic, ‘it changed her’ which we can guess was the fact Stiles went blind, no matter how temporary it was, it was definitely a change. And ‘she never would have wanted her freedom like this’, I’m going to take a wild guess that would be the pain and the blindness.” Peter said, “There’s nothing else in there that would be useful to us figuring out how to help Stiles.” 

“Wait a second.” Lydia said, running her finger over the back page delicately, closing the book, opening it again and staring at it in fascination. “It looks like the back two pages have sealed together, maybe if I can pry them apart, there could be something there.”

“Sealed together on purpose?” Melissa queried. 

“No, more like, time, age, this book is old, maybe somebody spilled something once upon a time or something, I don’t know, just, hang on.” She said, peeling the pages apart so gently that everyone was holding their breath, until, finally, they separated, revealing two sheets of paper that fluttered slightly as they were exposed to the air. 

“What do they say?” Tyler asked excitedly, clinging on to Sam’s arm as the three of them moved to the green armchair and squished into it. 

“They say,” Lydia began, unfolding the sheets and looking to Derek, “’I thought I had found a way. I previously wrote in this book about my attempts to free two casters, first Catherine, and then Matthew from their bindings. As you will have read, the attempt to free Matthew went horribly wrong, by warning him of what was about to happen, I made him endure terrible agony and it was worthless, the bindings would not break. The pain drove him insane and he died a few days later from the effects of the process.’ God…if we’d warned Stiles…” Lydia said, feeling her chest constrict at the thought of losing Stiles. 

“What about Catherine? What does it say about her?” Erica asked. 

“’Catherine was my first, we didn’t have a chance to discuss things. I ordered her to kill me and she fought the order with everything she had. I had no idea at the time that it would break the bindings, I thought she would become her own master by killing me. I was mistaken. The process freed her but at a terrible cost. She was in pain for months after it, barely able to stand from her bed without sobbing. Her vision, although not completely gone, had been severely damaged and her eyes glowed a constant gold that never dulled.’”

“That’s exactly like Stiles!” Sam said. 

“’After several months the pain began to subside, I believe that she became accustomed to the additional power and the pain she felt was her body adjusting to the power, in her most fevered moments she said that she felt like she was burning from the inside.’ This went on for months? Derek…how will he survive that?” Lydia said, her eyes brimming with tears at the thought of Stiles going through months of agony. 

“Here, let me.” Jackson offered, taking the book from her gently, “’In her more lucid moments she explained how she would never forgive me, she seemed to have no control over her magic. I began to realise that when she got emotional her magic sparked out of control, it also affected her eyesight, and, in an attempt to help her, after the first few days of this agony, I treated her with a variety of herbs to keep her subdued until she finally regained control months later.’ God, this guy had to keep her sedated for months. What the fuck have we done?” Jackson said. 

“So you think Stiles will need to sleep for months?” Tyler asked quietly, nobody had an answer for that and so Jackson continued to read. 

“’Eventually she began to regain control, but she was never the same, she hated me with a passion, as soon as she was strong enough to stand, she left. I thought by changing my methods I would be able to help Matthew when I found myself in a similar situation. After his death I realised that perhaps casters are not supposed to be freed from their bindings. I aim to try once more with Hannah. Perhaps she will react differently to Catherine. I have made sure not to tell her of my plans, for fear she will end up like Matthew, but perhaps in different circumstances she will not react the way that Catherine did.’ It ends there.” Jackson finished looking repulsed. 

“I can only hope that Hannah killed him for his stupidity and selfishness! If we’d known, if we’d realised what we were risking...” Peter cursed. 

“It’s too late to change things now, we just have to focus on what we can do to help Stiles.” Melissa said calmly, “We have one thing this guy didn’t.” She said and they all looked at her in confusion, “The pack. The wolves. The ability to drain pain. I know it’s a big ask, but maybe it took Catherine so long to adjust because she was in pain. You drained Stiles’ pain before and his eyesight came back. Maybe you have to keep draining his pain and it’ll come back again and he’ll be able to function, at least to some extent, until his body adjusts. Because in case I haven’t said it before, I am strongly against sedating one of my kids for the next few months of his life.” 

“You’re right, this guy didn’t have an entire pack behind him, between us we can probably drain Stiles’ pain to at least keep it at a minimum until his magic settles.” Scott said in triumph, moving to Stiles and resting a hand on his arm, beginning to drain what pain he could, the rest of the pack copying his movements a moment later. 

“I don’t want to be a killjoy, but there’s something we also haven’t thought about. We don’t know if Catherine was a descendent of Maia’s like Stiles, or if she was a descendent of the experiments, but if she was an original caster, and she reacted that badly, and every time magic reappears the generations become more powerful, then Stiles is going to have more magic than her. Meaning it may take longer for him to adjust to it, or it may be too much. I mean, that guy didn’t mention anything about glowing skin, and Stiles’ skin definitely has a glow to it.” Allison said quietly. 

“I guess we just have to deal with that as it happens. I don’t think it’s possible to have too much magic. I mean, magic is a good thing, right? So, having it won’t kill you. Stiles just needs to adjust to the amount of magic he has now.” Erica said optimistically, everyone nodded in agreement with her, but it was obvious that they all doubted her words, even Erica herself looked uncertain as she glanced down at Stiles’ unconscious form. 

Stiles ached. It felt like every single one of his muscles had decided to make their presence known and even breathing seemed to feel like a knife was being stabbed into his chest. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids felt like a leaden weight, he finally managed to open them the slightest bit and shut them again instantly, wincing at the brightness he had witnessed, it felt like someone was shining a torch directly into his eyes. 

“Stiles? Sweetie? Are you awake?” Melissa’s voice said from somewhere close by, Stiles tried to recall the events that had led him to this point, he tried to remember what had happened, he’d been doing something...walking somewhere...with...Derek. It came flooding back to him in an instant and his eyes shot open. 

“You...” Stiles snarled, too filled with rage to even get his words out, he tried to stand but his whole body throbbed with pain and he could only just get upright without doubling over in agony. “What’s happening to me?” Stiles asked as his vision started to go black once more, and the worried faces of his pack began to vanish from his sight, “I...I can’t see.” Stiles said, relaxing just slightly when he felt the warmth of his father’s hand on his arm. 

“It’s going to be okay kid, we’re going to get you through this...” Noah started to say. 

“I don’t understand...what’s going on? Why can’t I see? Why does it hurt? Dad, help me, please.” Stiles whimpered as his magic almost seemed to pulse, like it was going to cause him to explode, he could feel it under every inch of his skin, vibrating in place, he was certain it must be bursting outward, that the entire room must be watching on in horror as Stiles exploded and only a ball of magic would be left in his place. 

“It’s okay Stiles, it’s going to be okay, just, hold on to me, okay? I’ve got you; I’m not going to leave you. I’m right here. It’s going to be alright.” Noah said as Stiles doubled over, clutching at his stomach in pain. 

“Please, god, I don’t know what’s happening...please, please help me.” Stiles begged as his knees gave out, his vision was gone completely again, it was nothing but blackness, he could hear the worried murmurs of the pack, could feel their hands on his skin, touching him gently, he could almost taste the fear flooding through the room but he wasn’t sure if it was theirs or his own. He didn’t know what was happening and that was perhaps the worst thing, he didn’t know what was going on, he couldn’t understand, if Derek had done as he’d planned and freed Stiles, then why was he in so much pain? Was it not over? Was there more that had to be done to break the bindings? Stiles didn’t think so, but he could barely think straight as it was. He felt the pain begin to fade just the slightest bit and realised that the wolves must be helping by draining some of it, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief when it no longer felt like he was on fire, even if his skin was still tingling. His vision returned enough that blurred faces began to appear and, as they continued to drain the pain, they became clearer, as did the fact it was raining heavily outside, Stiles wondered if the storm had stopped or if someone had carried him home through the storm, no doubt risking their lives in the process. He had no idea what had been happening and he really wished someone would explain to him. 

“Better?” Peter asked sounding pained and Stiles nodded tightly, he didn’t like that the entire pack was in pain, that they were suffering because of him, but he also knew he couldn’t have functioned with the amount of pain he had been in. 

“Thanks.” Stiles whispered in a hoarse voice as he leaned into his dad’s side, using his presence to try and draw enough strength to keep himself awake. “Do you know...” He grimaced, clenching his hands in to fists to try and distract himself from the pain, he cleared his throat and tried again, looking to Derek and trying not to think how much easier things would have been if he had just killed him when he was ordered to, “Do you know what is happening to me?” He said tensely. 

“I’m so sorry Stiles, if I’d had any idea...” Derek began and Stiles held up a hand to silence him. 

“If you’d had any idea you still would have done whatever you wanted to. And still not bothered to tell me about it.” He growled and Derek at least had the decency to avert his gaze, looking instead at the floor like it was suddenly fascinating, “What I want to know,” Stiles said, gritting his teeth to try and ignore the pain which was reappearing quicker than he had thought possible, “is what is happening to me now? Are you allowed to tell me? Or is it another thing where you can’t tell me or it won’t work? Is it over? Am I free? Or is there still more to do?” Stiles queried rapidly. 

“You’re free.” Derek said quickly, “You have no bindings, not anymore. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want and you never have to do anything anybody says again, not if you don’t want to.” 

“You didn’t answer. Is. It. Over.” Stiles snarled and there was silence in the room for a moment before Stiles cursed quietly, shaking his head and allowing himself just a second of weakness before he squared his shoulders, taking a steadying breath and looking at Derek. “Tell me what is going on.” He said, leaving no room for argument. 

“I was right...” Derek started and Stiles looked ready to punch him, “I mean, afterwards, I know what I did to you was wrong, but it was the only way...”

“We’ve already been over this. I will deal with what you did later. Tell me what’s happening now.” Stiles interrupted. 

“Well, when the bindings broke, it freed you, and the magic that was trapped in the ring. What you are feeling right now, this is your body adjusting to the magic. We found some extra pages that had sealed together. It looks like you will gain extra magic, which is the good news.” Derek explained. 

“And the bad news?” Stiles snapped impatiently. 

“It’s not that bad...” Scott tried. 

“Shut up.” He snarled, “I want to hear it from him. What have you done to me?” Stiles growled dangerously as outside the wind changed direction and the rain started to slam into the glass panes of the windows, causing them to rattle in their frames. 

“Stiles…I know you’re pissed; you have every right to be. I’m sorry…” Derek apologized.

“I don’t care that you’re sorry. I want to know what YOU have done. Tell me.” Stiles instructed. 

“I didn’t know what would happen. I thought it would just be a case of ordering you to kill me and when you didn’t, it would free you. I thought that was it.” He admitted. 

“Spit it out.” Stiles said. 

“There were additional pages, things I didn’t see. It looks like…” Derek took a steadying breath, “Your body is adjusting to your magic, but until it does, you are going to be in pain. The man who tried it previously, once he’d freed his caster, Catherine, he had to keep her sedated for months because she was in so much pain, during that time, her magic was also outside of her control. And when she finally adjusted to her power, she left him. But the good news is, you will adjust to this, you will be able to get through this, I know you will, and we will all be there to help you, we can drain the pain, we can help until you adjust.” Derek finished, Stiles stared at him for a solid minute and Derek waited awkwardly until Stiles shifted slightly, grimacing with pain as he did so. 

“So, let me get this straight.” Stiles muttered furiously, his eyes glowing bright gold and the storm outside seemed to worsen, “It isn’t bad enough that you did this to me without my permission, you intend to spend the next few months making the entire pack drain pain from me while my magic is completely out of control and I could end up hurting or even killing one of them? That’s your grand plan? That is the worst plan I have ever heard.” Stiles snarled. 

“We don’t mind draining your pain Stiles, if that’s what’s needed to keep you sane…” Erica said. 

“Have you thought maybe I don’t want you suffering through pain for months because of me!?” Stiles shouted as his knees gave out and he would have fallen if his dad didn’t catch him, his vision was fading quickly as the pain seemed to be increasing and all Stiles could think about was spending the next few months in agony, his pack would do their best to drain his pain but that would mean they would be suffering in pain, and even worse, what if he had no control over his magic? What if one of them got hurt while his magic was out of control? He’d nearly killed Derek by causing that tree to fall, he’d created the storm without meaning to and had no idea how to stop it, he had no control and it would only be a matter of time before someone got hurt or killed because of him. No, he couldn’t do it. That would kill him. He couldn’t do it to them. He couldn’t be around them. He could feel the panic setting in, it was strong enough that he almost couldn’t feel the pain anymore, he could almost forget about the fact that he was once again blind, no, he had to protect his pack, more than anything he had to stop them from suffering through the next few months. He couldn’t put them in danger, and he didn’t want them to have to suffer for his sake, he needed to put as much distance between them as possible. 

He could feel a pain in his chest, one he’d only felt once before, but instead of fighting it, he gave in to it. Whereas previously he’d been focused on finding Derek, on getting to him before anything bad happened to him, before the Alpha pack killed him, now the only priority was to make sure that the pack were safe. He was the danger and he needed to protect them from him. 

“Stiles! Stiles! Stop!” “Wait! Stiles!” “Help him!” “Do something!” He could hear voices shouting from nearby but Stiles couldn’t concentrate on them, he needed a plan, some kind of plan, he needed to keep them safe from him, if he just got to his room, he could lock the door, keep them out, keep them safe while he went through this alone, he wasn’t going to force them to suffer for his sake. 

He felt the carpet vanish from under his fingertips, getting swept up in the agony of his teleportation. 

Derek could only watch helplessly as Stiles’ skin started to glow gold, he didn’t know why everyone suddenly seemed to panic, rushing forward and reaching out to touch Stiles, telling him to stop, to wait, looking to Derek for help with pleading eyes, but Derek didn’t understand what was going on, not until the second when Stiles literally vanished in front of his eyes. 

“Stiles!” He called in a panic, rushing to the spot where Stiles had just vanished from, looking around in confusion, he didn’t understand what had happened, Stiles had been right there, and then he was gone. Where had he gone? Where was he? 

Derek ran in to the kitchen, hoping to find Stiles in there, and when that was empty, he ran through the house, determined to find Stiles’ heartbeat, convinced that he couldn’t be far, Derek just had to search for him. He had to be here, somewhere. 

The first thing Stiles felt was the icy rain hitting his skin. He knew something had gone wrong, that he was no longer in the house, but he couldn’t see, his eyesight was completely gone. All he knew was that he was outside somewhere, in the cold and the rain, with no control over his magic, in pain that seemed to be increasing drastically and he was blind. He stumbled forward; his hands outstretched as his searched blindly for something to anchor himself to. He couldn’t have gone more than a few feet when he felt his fingertips brush against wet stone, and he surged forward, almost crying in relief when he realised his hands were pressed against some kind of stone cliff. 

He was terrified of moving, scared that if he lost contact with the stone then he would never find it again. He inched his fingertips along the stone carefully, feeling the ground beneath his toes delicately as he moved forwards, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t lose his footing as he went. He couldn’t ignore the pain he was in for much longer, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate, never mind stay upright, he knew he had to keep moving, if he collapsed out here, he could die of exposure long before he managed to get control of himself. Stiles had barely moved more than a few feet when he felt the rain subside slightly, he hoped it was a case of the storm ebbing and him regaining his magic, but a moment later he felt stone in front of him and realised that he must have reached some kind of outcrop in the rock face. 

Stiles shivered with cold as he moved forward blindly, reaching out with trembling fingers to follow the stone, until, eventually, he found a small opening. It couldn’t have been more than a foot wide, but he thought if he squeezed, he may just be able to fit. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but it would at least get him out of the wind and rain if nothing else. He twisted, turning sideways as he managed to wriggle his way in to the small gap, grateful that at least he was out of the rain, Stiles eased in a little further, surprised that the small crack seemed to be widening slightly, he couldn’t believe his luck when a minute later he felt as the opposing wall vanished from beneath his fingertips and he became aware of space around him. 

Stiles sank to the ground, relieved to at least be out of the wind and rain, he wanted to move forward, explore just how big this cave was, but he also knew that he might never find his way out again if he did so. Especially if his eyesight never returned. He wrapped his arms around his knees, trying to hold himself together as he succumbed to the pain that had been running rampant through his body and that he had refused to give in to until he had at least escaped from the storm.

Derek was going out of his mind. Stiles wasn’t in the house, they had no idea where he was and Derek wanted to go out into the preserve, until Scott reminded him that the last time Stiles had teleported, he’d ended up in New York. Derek realised then that Stiles could be literally anywhere, and even if he was in the preserve, it was hundreds of acres, there was no way they’d be able to find him, not on their own, not in this storm that would hide any evidence of his scent or heartbeat. 

They all knew that the storm had to be Stiles’ magic, there was no other reason behind it, there had never been anything like this before as far as Derek could remember, a storm that battered the town, trees shaking, dangerously close to being uprooted, windows rattling in their frames, wind howling so loudly that it sounded like someone was screaming outside. Derek couldn’t help thinking that maybe Stiles was screaming somewhere. That he was outside somewhere, in this storm, screaming in agony and unable to control his magic and it was all Derek’s fault. He should have been more careful. He should have researched more, he should have read that stupid book back to back a thousand times over before acting on anything it said, he should have made sure that he’d found that additional page, he should have done so many things differently and, as usual when Derek messed up, he discovered that Stiles was the one that was paying for his mistakes.

Lorna came to pick Liam and Tyler up in the morning, her car rocking with the force of the wind as she trundled up the driveway. She dashed out of the car and up the porch steps, grateful when Melissa opened the door quickly to let her inside, Derek couldn’t help but think that Stiles was out in this somewhere. 

Derek had asked Sam if he could feel Stiles, if he knew if he was in pain, or even if he could lead them to him like he had done earlier in the night, but Sam had only shaken his head sadly, wherever Stiles was, Sam wasn’t going to be able to magically find him and they were helpless to do anything. Instead Derek had reassured him that it was fine and that he needed to rest. 

The three kids had had very little sleep, but they’d finally passed out around four in the morning when they just couldn’t stay awake any longer, no matter how much adrenaline was coursing through their veins. Derek had covered them with a blanket, not willing to let them out of his sight in case they ran off again, not that they had any reason to, without any way to find Stiles, none of them even knew where to start. 

The storm only seemed to worsen and a severe weather warning was issued, nobody was supposed to leave their homes unnecessarily, schools and businesses were closed until the storm passed, everything was on shut down as people put up their storm shutters and hoped for the best, although none of them had ever experienced anything like this before and there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. Still all Derek could think was that Stiles was out there, alone, in pain. He took hope from the fact that the storm was still raging, it meant Stiles was still alive. That he hadn’t died. Not yet. There was still hope. He could find him. Somehow. He had to find him, had to help him. 

Stiles had no idea how much time had passed, he knew he’d been in and out of consciousness a lot, he was delirious with pain, he was vaguely aware of the ground beneath his face from time to time, sometimes he could hear water dripping somewhere nearby and once in a while he felt a slight breeze over his arms. All he could think about was the pain. It felt like his brain was going to explode, it felt like his entire body was on fire, burning from the inside out, his organs being reduced to ash as power coursed through every atom in his body. He wasn’t strong enough to survive this, he was certain he was going to die, and, at times, he wished for it.

Gradually, and he had no idea how long it had been, the burning in his body began to dull. It felt like all of his internal organs had been melted and were now slowly beginning to reform. He wasn’t sure how long it was before he could actually breathe easily for the first time as his lungs began to greedily suck in oxygen, he knew he must have been breathing during his missing time, but he couldn’t remember it. He came back to awareness slowly, starting by feeling the oxygen surging through his lungs, his fingertips tingling slightly as he moved, he couldn’t remember digging his fingers into the ground, but he could feel soil under his hands as he moved, pins and needles sweeping through his whole body. Stiles heard water dripping on the dirt nearby and he began to count the drops, trying desperately to keep some track of time in the darkness that had become his life. 

He groaned, grimacing as his aching muscles protested at the movement, he decided against moving, instead waiting for the pain to subside as he instead tried to focus on any other sounds and sensations. After what he believed to be a few hours he began to notice that the wind blowing through the gap behind him seemed to be quietening, he strained his ears, desperate to know if the storm outside was ending along with Stiles’ pain. 

Stiles blinked. He stared in amazement at the stone in front of him that was slowly coming in to focus. He couldn’t believe it, he’d truly thought he was going to be blind for the rest of his life but here he was, lay on the floor of a cave, looking at a wall of rock that had sheltered him from the storm. 

He turned his head enough that he was able to get a look at his surroundings for the first time since his arrival here however long ago. He was in a large cave, so big that he couldn’t see the back wall, there was water dripping from a small crack just to his right, and if he concentrated enough, he could almost hear more water running further into the cave. He looked behind him and saw the narrow gap behind him, Stiles was in awe that he’d been able to fit through it, it looked barely wide enough for Sam to be able to fit through, he had no idea how he’d been able to get into the cave but he was eternally grateful that he had been. 

He counted another eighty-seven drops of water before he felt that the pain had dulled enough so that he could attempt to move. Stiles rolled on to his side and fought back a scream, but he was at least able to hold it back, he knew things must be getting easier if he was able to not scream at the pain. 

“Fuck.” Stiles cursed as he managed to roll on to his front, pushing his hands down and managing to get to his knees. After another one-hundred and six drops he managed to stumble to his feet, he leaned against the wall, taking a few minutes to steady his breathing, inhaling deeply and holding for a moment before exhaling slowly. Stiles almost sighed with relief when the burning in his organs dulled to almost manageable levels, like they were about to burst with power but no longer melting into nothingness. 

He took an unsteady step forwards, almost falling when his legs felt like they were about to give way, but he just about managed to stay upright by holding on to the wall. As Stiles continued to breathe deeply the pain continued to lessen, he felt like the magic was just about contained inside him, he didn’t know how much it would take for it to explode outwards again, but for now, he had managed to regain control. 

“This is my magic. I can control it.” Stiles said, taking another breath and feeling his magic settle a little further. “Okay. Okay. I got this. I can do this.” Stiles muttered as he took another step forward, relieved when he felt a little steadier this time. “I can do this. You can do this. It’s your magic, you can control it.” He said, “Just breathe. Keep breathing Stiles. You’ve got this.” 

Stiles looked at the gap in front of him, it looked so narrow but he didn’t know if there was any other way out, if he tried to find another way out he could spend hours or days wandering around in this cave, he had no idea how big it was, how deep it went or if there were any other ways out of here. He felt panic began to swell in his chest and he heard thunder rumble in the sky on the other side of the crack. 

“Calm down.” Stiles muttered under his breath, “You’ve got this. You can control this. It’s your magic Control it.” He said assertively, taking a steadying breath as he forced the magic back under control. “Okay, you got in here. You can get out.” Stiles said logically, moving slowly towards the gap in front of him and squeezing in. 

“Guys!” Sam said excitedly, rushing down the stairs. It had been five days since Stiles had teleported out of the living room and vanished from the house, the storm had been raging around them ever since. The entire town had been on lockdown, schools had been closed, shops had shut their doors, nobody was going out unless it was absolutely necessary. However, in the last few hours, the storm had finally started to subside, the rain has ceased and the wind was barely fluttering the leaves now. Derek had been ready to leave the house and start the search for Stiles when Sam called out as he came rushing down the stairs. 

“What’s up?” Derek asked, hurrying towards him with concern. 

“Stiles! I can feel Stiles!” Sam said enthusiastically and they all stilled to look at him. 

“You’re certain?” Peter asked almost hopefully. 

“Definitely, he’s not in a lot of pain anymore. He’s confused though, and scared. But I can feel him. I can find him. I know I can.” Sam said, putting on his shoes and rushing towards the door, Derek hesitated for a split second before stepping to the side and allowing Sam to get past him. 

Stiles had to lean against the rock outside his cave for a few moments as he blinked, trying to take in the sun in the sky above him, sheltering his eyes with his hands as he tried to get over the sudden light headedness he felt as he breathed in fresh air for the first time in god knows how long. He looked at the dirt covering his hands, staring at them in amazement, unable to understand what was happening, he knew he’d lost track of time, but it hadn’t been months? Had it? Surely he’d be dead if it had been months?

He took in his surroundings, he could hear birds in the trees nearby, the sound of a river running not too far away, everything seemed too bright, too loud. He looked down and froze. There was a tendril of gold mist hovering near his stomach. 

He reached his fingers towards it, brushing it almost gently, the tendril just about touched his skin, but barely, like it’s grip on him was tenuous at best. He poked at it, prodding it in confusion, he didn’t think it was his magic, it didn’t feel like his magic, but he didn’t know what the hell else it could be. He decided it didn’t really matter right now, all that mattered was figuring out how much time he’d lost and where he was. The trees around him told him he had to be in some kind of forest, he thought it may be the preserve, but he didn’t recall this particular location, he knew he could be anywhere in a hundred miles, he also became aware of just how hungry and thirsty he was, suddenly that river sounded like the best thing he had ever heard. Stiles pushed off the rock, using the momentum to move forwards, wincing slightly as his body throbbed with pain. 

Stiles was certain he had to be getting close to the river, he could hear it, it was getting closer, but it felt like it was a million miles away, every step seemed to be harder and his magic felt on the verge of exploding out of him, he wasn’t sure how much further he could go. 

“Come on Stiles. You can do this.” He said through gritted teeth, forcing his feet to keep moving. 

“…tiles!? Stiles!?” Stiles stilled in his tracks, that sounded just like…

“Sam?” He called out in confusion, moving in the direction of where he was certain he had heard Sam calling from, but it couldn’t be Sam, could it? He was in the middle of nowhere, in a part of the preserve he’d never even seen before, he had no idea where he was, so how the hell could they have found him? It wasn’t possible. 

“Stiles!” He heard Sam call back in relief and a moment later Sam and the rest of the pack came in to view, all of them staring at Stiles in sheer disbelief. 

“Um…hey.” Stiles tried, his voice cracking slightly with disuse. 

“Stiles! Oh thank god you’re okay kiddo!” Noah said, rushing forward and pulling Stiles into a bone crushing hug. Stiles relaxed in to it, mainly because he wasn’t sure how long his legs were going to hold out and the river might as well be a hundred miles away for how desperately he needed water, thankfully, Melissa seemed able to read his mind and as soon as his dad pulled away slightly she was there. 

“Here, you must be dehydrated, unless you’ve had water?” She said, handing him a bottle of water, Stiles snatched it from her hand, gulping it down desperately, not even sure if he felt the cool water hit his throat or not. “Slowly. Too much too quickly and you’ll be sick.” Melissa advised, pulling the bottle downwards slightly so that Stiles had to stop drinking or he’d spill it all over the floor. “Sips Stiles. You know this.” 

“Yeah, yeah I...I know.” Stiles mumbled in agreement, still staring at the water in desperation, he was so thirsty and so tired and just for a moment the burning seemed to have lessened slightly. 

“Okay, here.” She said, tipping the bottle and allowing Stiles a bit more water, “What about food? Have you had any?” She asked and Stiles shook his head before grasping the energy bar she held out gratefully, ripping open the packaging and taking a large bite. 

Derek could only stare at Stiles, he looked like crap, covered in dirt and mud, there were several cuts and grazes on his face and hands that Stiles didn’t even seem to be aware of, and he looked to have lost weight in his time away, which, considering he hadn’t eaten in the past five days, wasn’t exactly a huge surprise to Derek. What was a surprise though was that Stiles was upright, he was moving under his own steam and he could see them. Derek had thought that Stiles would spend the next several months in agony, and yet, here he was. Standing upright and conscious and fully aware of what was going on and it had only been five days. Obviously, Derek was grateful, but he was worried about what this meant, if Stiles was really okay, or if this was only going to last momentarily before he collapsed in pain again. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Sam said, pushing past the others and moving towards Stiles, they all saw the way Stiles’ eyes – which were still glowing a bright gold – didn't look at Sam, but instead focused on the air between them, his eyes wide in disbelief. 

“Stop.” Stiles said quickly and Sam stilled, looking at Stiles and then Derek in uncertainty.

“What is it?” Lydia asked in curiosity as Stiles moved his gaze from Sam to look at the rest of the pack, his mouth dropping open in shock. “What Stiles? Are you okay? What are you looking at?” 

Stiles reached out almost absentmindedly to the tendril that barely connected to his skin, he hadn‘t been paying attention before, too out of his mind with exhaustion and dehydration and barely able to keep himself upright. But now that he’d had something to drink and eat – although nowhere near as much as he knew he should – he’d realised that the tendril he’d been so confused about earlier connected him to Sam, and, as he looked around, he could see lots of others, almost as thick and as tough as rope, like they actually held the others together and nothing would be able to break them. They connected all the pack members to each other, the ones to and from Derek seemed to be the thickest and strongest, but the others were still strong, binding in a way. The more Stiles studied them the more he realised that there were a dozen tendrils reaching out in his direction, but they all stopped a few inches away from his skin. Even the one with Sam, although it was thick and strong at Sam‘s end, by the time it reached Stiles, it barely managed to cling on to his skin. 

“What was that?” Sam asked almost shivering slightly as Stiles’ fingers brushed through the mist that bound them together. He realised then what they were. These were the bonds. These were the bonds that allowed them to feel what the others were feeling from time to time. 

“Can you...” Stiles trailed off, taking a step forward and brushing the bond between Peter and Derek, staring in amazement when both of them shuddered at the contact. 

“What are you doing?” Peter asked in awe. Stiles stared at the bond in front of him in amazement, as he looked closer, he could see almost tiny little orbs streaming up and down the bond, moving lazily between Derek and Peter like they had all the time in the world. 

“You can feel that?” Stiles asked in curiosity. 

“Feel what?” Scott interrupted but Stiles continued to look at Peter for confirmation. 

“Yes. It feels odd but...safe.” He said stiltedly before looking at Derek who nodded in agreement. 

“Okay, enough of whatever this is. You can explain later. Once we’ve got you home and you’ve had something to eat and drink properly.” Erica stated and Stiles glanced up at her, surprised to find that her bond was trying hard to reach out to him but once again it seemed to hit a wall a few inches away from him and couldn’t connect. Stiles reached out experimentally, tugging on the bond gently, trying to pull it through whatever invisible barrier it was hitting. Erica let out a startled gasp and Stiles watched with wide eyes as the bond connected with his skin, it was thicker and deeper and more powerful than Stiles had expected but he had also never felt anything like it, it felt like safety, like home. He looked up at the pack, not really surprised to see Erica rushing towards him and then suddenly she was pulling him in to a hug, her curls almost suffocating him as she buried her face in his neck. 

“Erica?” Boyd called out in confusion, unsure why Erica’s bond was telling him she was ecstatically happy and utterly distraught at the same time while she seemed to be sobbing on to Stiles’ shoulder. 

“God...Stiles...you...I’m sorry...I’m so sorry you feel like that...but...you...you did it. But, you’re not right. You’re not okay. We need to get you home.” Erica said quietly into his ear and Stiles nodded in agreement. He didn’t feel okay, he was exhausted and hungry and thirsty and he was still so angry, he couldn’t even look at Derek for fear that he would lose what little control he had, that by seeing Derek and thinking about what the man had done to him, that Stiles would end up back in agony, unable to control his magic again, unable to stop the pain from flooding through his body. No, he couldn’t look at Derek, he couldn’t deal with it right now. Instead he allowed her to steer him back towards what he guessed was the direction of the house. 

“Would one of you tell us what is going on!?” Isaac pouted and Erica couldn’t help the grin on her lips, because although Stiles was in a really bad way, he was still in pain – a lot of it – even if he was now moving around, but more than that, the sting of betrayal still ran through him like nothing she’d ever felt, Stiles had been let down by all of them so many times and once again he’d had his choice taken away, but this time it was by people who he believed only pretended they cared about him. She knew she would be able to fix that though, because now she could feel what he felt, because Stiles had bonded with her, even if he didn’t mean to, and even if none of them knew how, none of it mattered, because they were bonded now and nothing would be able to break it and she would help Stiles realise just how loved he was by all of the pack. 

“Stiles bonded with me.” She grinned happily, ignoring the gaping faces staring back at her as she led Stiles back towards the house. 

Any excitement she felt had faded by the time they were a mile from the house, it was obvious to all of them that Stiles was on the verge of collapsing, Erica didn’t need to be bonded with Stiles to know that he was exhausted, it was evident in the way he swayed when he walked and the way his eyes were barely staying open. She wasn’t sure what to suggest and she looked to Derek hoping he would have the answer, she could feel the worry emitting from Derek too. Derek was evidently hugely worried about the state that Stiles was in, but he didn’t say anything, no doubt able to tell that speaking to Stiles, and no doubt making things worse, was not the thing to do right now. 

“Why don’t we take a break?” Noah suggested a few minutes later and Stiles nodded gratefully, leaning on the nearest tree and sliding to the ground within a second. “Isaac, Boyd, could you go to the house? Bring us back some food and water? It’s a nice day, we could have a picnic?” 

“That’s a great idea!” Lydia said, waving her hands in Isaac and Boyd’s direction, both of them hurrying off out of sight to get the necessary supplies. Stiles sat with his head in his hands, barely able to keep his eyes open, he was so tired, he just wanted to sleep. 

“So, not to ruin the moment, but, like, how are you okay? Because you seem to be okay? And like, Catherine had to be sedated for months, it has only been five days and you seem alright? I mean, other than tired and hungry, you don’t seem like you are about to die from pain?” Scott rambled and Stiles glanced up at him, weariness set in every one of his features. 

“I don’t know.” Stiles replied eventually, “I just...I don’t know...I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know where I’ve been other than I was in a cave, I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, you say five days, but it feels like it could have been five years. I know I’m still in pain, but I’ve got a handle on it now, at least marginally. It feels like my magic is just about contained, like it could explode outwards, along with my organs, at any given second. But, for now, I have it under control. I think. But how am I okay? How am I functional to even the slightest degree when Catherine had to be comatose for months? I literally have no idea.” He explained, grateful when Isaac and Boyd appeared carrying several bags of food and water.

“Here, we brought enough for everyone.” Boyd said, depositing the bags on the ground and handing Stiles a bottle of water as everyone settled on to the ground and dug in. The ground was still slightly damp underneath them but none of them were really bothered, Stiles was okay, he was back with them and he seemed to have his magic under control for the time being at least. 

Stiles ate his way through several sandwiches and bags of crisps, not to mention drinking at least three bottles of water before he began to feel a little queasy. Still, he felt so much better than he had done, he was still tired and he couldn’t wait to get home to sleep, but the burning in his organs had dulled to almost non-existent, he could feel his magic, but it was the same way that he’d always felt it, warm, safe, loving, if a little stronger than he was used to. He exhaled slowly and watched as the bonds in front of him vanished from his vision, he was kind of glad about that, seeing them all and watching them as they followed their connections had become a bit of a strain. 

“Your eyes look more human now.” Jackson said, Stiles looked at him quizzically, “I guess you haven’t seen a mirror. They were glowing gold before, they aren’t normal, there’s still some gold in them, but you could pass as human if you had to try.” 

“Good to know.” Stiles muttered tiredly, all he really wanted to do was sleep for a while. 

“I’ve been thinking.” Cora said and Stiles tried to concentrate on the sound of her voice to keep his eyes open, “What’s the difference between you and Catherine? Why did she suffer for months but you seem to be at least functional within a few days?” She began before pausing and looking around at the pack as if waiting for one of them to answer. 

“Well, don’t leave us guessing. What are you thinking?” Allison asked. 

“Okay, so Catherine was sedated.” Cora said and they all looked at her blankly, “Maybe this process is something that Stiles’ body needed to go through, and he HAD to go through it, he had to be aware of what was happening, he had to let his body adjust to the magic, but he also had to let his mind adjust. I think, and obviously we don’t know if it’s accurate or not, but maybe by keeping Catherine sedated, it dragged it out, her mind couldn’t adjust to the magic so it did it slowly, dragged the pain out for months. Whereas Stiles, who wasn’t sedated, his mind had to adjust, and quickly, because if it didn’t, then, well, who knows what could have happened. But, it’s a possibility, right?” 

“I guess.” Lydia nodded slowly, obviously mulling it over, “I mean, I know that the brain can process things even in it’s subconscious, but, ideally, being awake, being aware, it would most likely hurry that process up. It’s also logical to assume that if you had drained the pain from Stiles, as we had planned to do, then it would have had the same effect as sedating him. While Stiles wasn’t feeling the pain his mind wasn’t able to adjust to it, but when he did feel the pain, his brain had to adapt and quickly. I think you’re right Cora. I think by sedating Catherine, he made it much worse for her, even if that hadn’t been his intentions.” 

“So, you think this means that Stiles is over the worst of it then?” Isaac asked nervously, glancing to Stiles as if expecting him to know the answer. 

“I guess Stiles is the only one that knows that. Do you still feel like you’re about to explode?” Lydia queried. 

“Not so much. I think food helped.” Stiles admitted, “Sleep would probably help too.” 

“We should get you home then, let you rest.” Derek said and Stiles grimaced slightly as thunder rumbled above them. 

“What was that?” Sam said, looking to Stiles who was glaring at the ground like it personally offended him, his hands clenched tightly into fists. 

“You’re still angry.” Erica interrupted and Stiles looked across at her. “I can feel it.” She explained gesturing to where she thought their bond connected them. 

“Yeah, well.” Stiles grumbled, it wasn’t like he could deny it when Erica could feel his anger towards Derek, not to mention the rumble of thunder that echoed when Stiles had heard Derek’s voice. 

He was still so angry, when he heard Derek speak, he could only recall the events in the clearing, of Derek ordering him to kill him, of the pain that he had experienced, the pain that had gone on forever, that had seemed never ending, the fear that had overwhelmed him, the panic that still flooded through his system at the thought of going blind again. 

“Alright.” Noah said in the awkward silence, staring at the distraught look on Derek’s features before moving towards Stiles, “Let’s get you home, get some sleep, then see how you feel.”

“Okay.” Stiles agreed, getting to his feet a little unsteadily and leaning on his dad as they headed back towards the house. Stiles didn’t really remember getting to the house, he definitely didn’t remember getting into his room, or his bed, all he could focus on was keeping his eyes open long enough to not faceplant the floor. 

Stiles was asleep within seconds of hitting the mattress, Derek actually thought he might have fallen asleep before then, but he wasn’t going to say anything, he didn’t want to say anything at all until he was certain Stiles couldn’t hear him, the last thing he wanted to do was cause a reaction like the one earlier. Stiles was still pissed at him, and Derek could understand why, he just wished he could do something to fix it.


	18. Chapter 18

As it was Stiles spent most of the next three days either sleeping or eating, it became obvious as Stiles recovered that he seemed to be gaining more control over his magic, Derek did his best to stay away, worried about causing Stiles more upset and making it harder for him to keep his control, in fact, he went out of his way to avoid Stiles. When he knew Stiles was out of his bedroom then Derek made sure to stay in his office, and once he was sure the coast was clear, he would sneak off to his bedroom and stare at the ceiling and wonder how he’d made such a mess of things.

After two weeks the pack insisted that he stop acting like a child and face Stiles, but the way Derek saw it, he wasn’t hiding, Stiles could come and find him when he was ready to talk. He wasn’t going to inflict his presence on Stiles if Stiles wasn’t ready, he’d already done so much, he’d abandoned Stiles and left him with Kate and Gerard and even once he’d rescued him, Derek had still been his master, still forced Stiles to follow orders, and then he’d done something so despicable that even now no matter how much he tried to justify to himself it was the right thing, he just kept coming back to that look of pure betrayal in Stiles’ eyes. Stiles had trusted him, and Derek had betrayed him, made him think that he would have to become a killer to be free, and Stiles hated him for it. 

Derek stared at the plans in front of him, he hadn’t been able to get anything right on these plans in days, everything he tried he ended up scrapping within minutes of starting, they all looked ridiculous and he didn’t know how to fix it and every few seconds his mind would wander to think about how Stiles was, and if he was okay and how he was handling his magic and if he was doing okay at school. He knew Stiles’ first couple of days back had been hard to adjust to, but Stiles, as per usual, amazed them all by adjusting quickly and only once losing control of his magic, luckily he’d managed to get control before anyone realised and had removed himself from the situation. 

Derek wasn’t entirely sure what the situation had been, mainly because the pack had all agreed that if Derek wanted to know, he was going to have to find out from the source, in a vain attempt to get the two of them to talk to each other, what they would tell him was that Stiles was fine and everything was under control. 

He heard a light knock on his door and moved toward it, half expecting it to be Lydia who had taken to coming in around this time each evening and letting him know what had happened during the day, not just with Stiles but with the whole pack. Derek had to admit that keeping away from Stiles had the added downside of isolating himself from his entire pack and he missed them desperately. What he hadn’t expected when he answered the door was to see Stiles standing in front of him. Derek couldn’t help but stare, it felt like a lifetime since he’d seen him, his dark hair was standing up in a hundred different directions, he was pale but not overly so, and he looked healthier than Derek had seen in a long time, even if the dark shadows under his eyes told Derek that Stiles still wasn’t sleeping as well as he should be. 

“I think we need to talk.” Stiles said seriously and Derek nodded numbly in reply, gesturing for Stiles to come in and shutting the door behind him. Stiles moved stiffly, as if he was putting all of his concentration in to moving into the room rather than directing any of his attention to Derek, he turned his back on Derek, staring instead out of the window and looking out in the preserve. 

“I…I’m sorry Stiles.” Derek said after almost two minutes of silence and Stiles sighed bitterly. 

“Do you even know why I’m so mad?” Stiles asked, refusing to look at Derek and trying to keep his magic under control by focusing on one particular tree outside. 

“I, um, I guess because of me ordering you to kill me, risking you becoming a murderer?” Derek said uncertainly, hadn’t that been what Stiles had said? Wasn’t that why he was mad? “Because I took your choice away, but…I had to. I couldn’t tell you about it, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked.” 

“You could have said something like ‘Stiles, I’ve found a way to free you, but it involves something really bad happening and a lot of pain, do you still want to do it?’ But you didn’t, did you!?” Stiles snapped and then took a steadying breath when thunder rumbled outside and Derek stilled, he hadn’t thought of that. 

“I couldn’t.” He said a minute later, “You would have asked how bad, you would have wanted to know what it was. You wouldn’t have cared if it was your blood getting spilled. But you’d ask the question. And if I told you it was my blood, I just, we don’t, we have no idea what the point of no return would be. What if I told you you’d have to kill me if we did this and that was enough for it not to work? I couldn’t take that risk. Not with your freedom.” 

“But you’d take the risk with your life!?” Stiles shouted turning to look at Derek for the first time, his eyes blazing a bright gold before he took another breath and tried to relax. 

“Are you…” Derek paused in surprise, “Are you meditating?” He asked. 

“I’m trying to.” Stiles snarled in reply and Derek couldn’t help but laugh, Stiles opened his eyes to glare at him and Derek stifled it as best he could. 

“Sorry, sorry, just, I never thought I’d see you meditate.” He chuckled and Stiles rolled his eyes, a twitch of a smile on his lips and Derek felt hopeful for the first time in weeks. 

“Yeah well it helps.” Stiles said shortly. 

“And, control wise? You seem to be calmer, or better at controlling it at least?” Derek asked uncertainly. 

“I’m still very angry at you. But.” Stiles took a deep breath, “Sam spoke to me today. He pointed something out that I hadn’t even thought of, because I’ve been too busy focusing on how angry I am, and, it made me think, and. I just, I wanted to say…” He paused, obviously gathering himself and Derek braced himself for another tongue lashing, “Thank you.” 

“What!?” Derek said in shock. 

“I haven’t said it yet…but…thank you. Thank you for risking your life to free me, and I might still be very angry about how you did it, but you freed me Derek. I’m free, because of you. And I haven’t even said thank you yet, so, I am really grateful for what you have done for me, even if I might despise the way you went about it.” Stiles explained and Derek was so caught off guard that he didn’t even know how to reply to that, instead he nodded dumbly, staring at Stiles with disbelief. 

Stiles moved towards the door and Derek stepped to one side to let him pass, he wanted to call out to him, tell him how relieved he was that everything had worked out, how sorry he was at what Stiles had been through, how much he wished he could fix everything. Instead he stayed silent, afraid of making everything one hundred times worse when Stiles had at least sort of offered an olive branch. 

“Actually, you know why I’m so mad?” Stiles said, turning on his heel to glare at Derek, “Sure, I’m mad because you ordered me to kill you, you could have turned me in to a murderer, and I’m mad about how you went about it and how you betrayed me, and god, I’m so mad, and it took me forever to realise you were right.” He continued and Derek was silent, afraid that if he spoke Stiles would stop speaking to him, except he couldn’t stay silent at that comment. 

“I was right? About what?” 

“You asked me ‘Are you annoyed that you could have killed me? Or annoyed that I didn’t give you a choice?’ and I said to you what was the difference, but there was a big difference. I’m annoyed that you didn’t give me a choice, but after talking to the pack, and reading the book – all of it by the way, which, seriously, just how quickly did you decide that you risking your life was the best option when you didn’t even read the whole freaking book!” He sighed, taking a steadying breath before continuing, “Part of me understands why, you couldn’t tell me otherwise it wouldn’t work, and if you told me the option wouldn’t be there anymore, it wouldn’t work if you even gave me the choice to make a choice. So I get that. Or at least I try to understand that bit. But I am furious that I could have killed you. I know you said that you’re fine and it’s over and you’re alive and that’s all great, but what you don’t get is that this isn’t the first time that you’ve risked your life. You are always risking your life, it’s like you have no sense of self-preservation, like you want to become a martyr, and in case you aren’t aware, this pack needs you. It needs you alive. And you can’t be that if you are dead. Especially not if I’ve killed you. Because I’m like ninety-seven percent sure I couldn’t bring you back from the dead. And, seriously, what would have happened if I had killed you? How would I deal with the guilt of that? Do you think that I would ever be able to forgive myself if I was the one that killed you? Orders or not? Do you honestly think that my freedom was worth your life? Because it wasn’t. I am not worth your life. Do you get that? Nobody is. Your life is important. You are important. And I am so sick of you nearly getting killed risking your life for someone. Stop it. Just care about being alive. Stay alive because this pack needs you. So stop offering your life up every chance you get. That is what angers me the most. Because that won’t be the last time. I know it won’t. And what if next time someone does actually kill you? What if next time you risk sacrificing your life and there isn’t some loophole that saves you and you actually die? How are we supposed to go on without you?” Stiles ranted, gradually getting more agitated until Derek could see several trees swaying ominously outside. 

“Stiles.” He said, stepping forward and resting his hands tentatively on Stiles’ shoulders, relieved when Stiles seemed to realise what had happened and he inhaled deeply, allowing his shoulders to drop slightly as he relaxed. “You kind of rambled a little bit there, but what I took from all that, is that mainly you’re mad at me because you’re scared one day I might actually end up dead and there won’t be a lucky escape for me.” 

“Not scared. Angry. Not scared.” Stiles said, although Derek was sure he heard a slight trip in his heartbeat to indicate he was lying and he couldn’t help the small grin on his lips at that, Stiles was angry at him because he was scared of something happening to him, he could deal with that, he thought. 

“Okay. Angry. Fair enough. Now you know how I feel every time you sacrifice yourself for us.” He said and Stiles stilled. 

“I don’t know what…”

“Seriously? You are not about to attempt to deny it? Are you? How about using the protection spell despite the fact you were already weakened just so that the Alphas and that other pack couldn’t see us? How about teleporting to New York to save my life, even though you’d never done it before and had no idea what would happen? What about goading Kate so that she would attack you and not claw my heart out when she thought that you’d killed me? Or telling us all to run and you’d lead Gerard away when he was coming for you? And what about before you had magic? How about holding me up in a pool for two hours until you were about to drown? What about refusing to give Gerard anything on the pack to the point that he shot you? Or when you risked your life to help Scott find his anchor? Do you want me to continue? Because honestly, they are just the ones of the top of my head. I’m almost certain I could carry on for the rest of the night and not even cover half of the times you’ve risked your life for us.” Derek said and Stiles remained silent, pursing his lips in thought, obviously trying to think how to reply, but Derek decided to press his advantage. “All I’m saying is, I get it. I know exactly how you feel because I feel it too. Every single time you risk your life for me, or for anyone. I feel that same fear. And I’m so sorry that I scared you.”

“You didn’t scare…” Stiles began half-heartedly.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry I made you angry.” Derek amended with a slight grin, “But, you are worth it. In case that’s not been made incredibly clear, you are worth risking my life every single day, because you being alive and happy and healthy and getting to be you, the real you, not the you that has to follow orders, but the real you, the one who doesn’t give a shit what anyone tells him to do, because he’s going to do what he thinks is right, even if everyone else tells him otherwise. That you. Having that you back, it is worth dying for. And I would have died for it if necessary. I’m really glad I didn’t have to. But I would have done. Because you are worth it Stiles.” Derek explained. “And, you’re right, I didn’t think about how guilty you would feel if you were the one to kill me, but honestly, I only had the smallest bit of worry that it would actually happen. Mainly I was worried about if you would ever forgive me for putting you through it.” 

There was silence as Stiles processed what Derek had said, if he was honest, he’d never thought of it like that, he’d never thought how anybody else would feel when he risked his life, because, honestly, he didn’t think they’d care. Sure, they might care about him, but if he died, they’d get over it, move on with their lives, be happy. He knew if he lost any of them, he wouldn’t get over it, it would destroy him, it would feel like his heart had been ripped out and crushed. He couldn’t lose them. He’d never imagined that they would feel the same about him and it stunned him slightly to hear Derek confess it so easily. 

“Okay. So. Maybe I’m not as mad as I was. And, I guess, maybe I understand a little more clearly. It doesn’t mean you are off the hook for what you did, I mean, okay, so, actually you did the only thing you could do, because of the whole telling me stopping it thing, and if I’d found out that there was a way for you to free me and you hadn’t mentioned it I would have been really pissed, so, yeah, maybe you did the right thing. And, now I sort of understand why you were willing to risk your life, even if I’m still not convinced it was the right thing to do, but I am grateful for it, so, maybe I’ve been unfair and over-reacted and not really been the nicest person to you and said some things in the heat of the moment and, I’m actually really sorry about all of that, because none of it was true. Or, basically none of it was true. I mean, I’m still sort of mad that you ordered me to do something that could have ended up with you being dead and me being a murderer, but I can get over that. So, what I should be saying is sorry. Sorry for shouting at you. Sorry for ignoring you. Sorry for my magic getting all out of hand because I was so mad and nearly killing you and everyone else. Just, sorry. And, like, maybe, you’d like to join the pack for dinner instead of hiding in here like a hermit.” Stiles rambled, quickly turning his back on Derek again and opening the door before Derek had a chance to say that Stiles had nothing to be sorry for and that he couldn’t believe that Stiles had forgiven him so easily.

Derek knew then that they would get over this, he knew now wasn’t the time to push his feelings on Stiles, he’d have to wait, get back to being friends first and then they could go from there, maybe, if Stiles would be willing. He thought back to Stiles’ confused explanation in the clearing, that he hadn’t been following an order when he’d kissed Derek in New York, he thought back to the kiss, to the feel of Stiles’ lips against his, the press of his tongue, the soft groans he’d made as Derek kissed his neck. He recalled their kiss in the preserve, as Stiles had kissed him almost desperately before begging him to cancel his order. Admittedly Stiles had then said that he didn’t know how he felt, and that Derek didn’t get to tell him how he felt, but, for Derek, there was hope. He was almost certain of it. He just had to take his time and convince Stiles that Derek was worth it. 

Derek followed after Stiles, stepping into the kitchen and looking around at his gathered pack who were already digging into the feast that was spread out over the table. None of them mentioned his absence over the last couple of weeks, instead Peter handed him a plate and Derek slid into his seat with ease, shooting him a quick grin while Stiles moved down the table and sat down between Isaac and Scott, sitting opposite Sam and piling the food high on his own plate. Derek couldn’t help but notice it was more than Stiles usually ate but he wasn’t sure if he should comment on it or not, Lydia obviously caught him looking though, and she leaned towards him, keeping her voice low as not to embarrass Derek. 

“It’s one of the effects of having all his magic. He burns through a lot of energy, meaning he needs a lot of food, he eats like a wolf now, we’re almost certain he has the same metabolism as you guys. Plus, apparently eating properly makes it easier to control his magic. If he’s hungry or tired or anything, it’s harder to keep control. He made sure he ate before he came to see you, to make it as easy for him as possible. But he seems okay about it. Did you two kiss and make up?” She asked and Derek shrugged as casually as he could. 

“I think we’re okay. Sort of.” He admitted, not saying anything else as he dug into his meal. 

“Derek, you’ll never guess what Liam did at school today...” Sam said excitedly and Derek couldn’t help but smile as he listened to Sam’s story from today, thinking about how lucky he was that Sam was happy here and that he had found such great friends, he just hoped that Liam and Tyler would keep their secret, their lives depended on it. “...And then we got talking about how I was able to find Stiles in the woods when none of you guys could, and I was telling them about bonds and stuff, and how Stiles has formed a bond with Erica, even if he hasn’t formed one with anyone else yet, but I was still able to find him, so we think that I’m coming in to my wolf powers already, so we were going to try and see if I have like super strength or something. Stiles says it’s unlikely that they are coming in this early, but I think we should try it out, like, what if I could pick up some of the fallen trees or something, so, do you want to come watch me try tomorrow?” Sam asked and Derek tried to take in everything he just said but his brain was stuck on one thing. 

“You haven’t bonded with anyone else? Even though you can see them?” Derek queried and Stiles shrugged, without even looking up from his plate. 

“W’lIca’tse’much.” Stiles said through his food and they all gaped at him. Stiles swallowed, clearing his throat before speaking again, “I can’t see them that much, not unless I concentrate.” Stiles explained, closing his eyes for a second and opening them again once they were glowing bright gold, “Plus, seeing them all kind of gives me a headache.” He admitted, watching them all moving around the table, twisting and flowing slightly as people shifted in their seats. “And, well, yeah, I can see the other bonds and I can see them reaching out to me, but I just kind of want to get used to this one first. I mean, I can feel what Erica is feeling some of the time and I just want to wrap my head around that first. Especially with just getting my full magic and stuff, I’m still getting used to this, I don’t want to get all the bonds and end up being overwhelmed and like, blind again.” He said, gesturing to his eyes before closing them again. When he opened them again there was still that almost supernatural glow about them, but at least they could mainly pass as human, so long as nobody looked too closely. Derek of course couldn’t help but get lost in Stiles’ eyes, he was actually kind of grateful when Stiles looked down the other end of the table to where his dad was sitting as it gave him a chance to stop staring.

“Meaning that Sam is bonded to you in some way or another already though, right? Otherwise how could he find you in the preserve when none of us could?” Noah queried and Stiles shrugged, Derek began to get the feeling that the pack had waited to ask Stiles these questions until Stiles and Derek had reconciled. 

“I don’t know? There is a bond there of some description, maybe because Sam is a shifter, he’s just not gone through his first change yet. Did any of you have bonds with people before you shifted?” He said, directing his question at Peter, Cora and Derek. 

“I did.” Cora admitted, “I hadn’t gone through my first shift yet when I felt the bond break with mom. I didn’t feel the others though, but I felt her. Maybe because she was my Alpha, and Sam thinks of you as one of his Alpha’s, maybe that’s why? I mean, honestly, I don’t know, I don’t think any of us do, but we do know that Sam has a sort of bond with you, even if it’s not fully fledged like Erica’s, and that’s what is important.”

“You’re right.” Stiles nodded, “But I don’t think that means you are coming into your powers just yet, but, if you really want to try it, we can do, but I don’t think it’ll happen just yet kid.” 

“Well, I can try? Right? Even if it doesn’t work, at least we know?” Sam continued and Stiles shook his head fondly, god he loved that kid. 

“Sure thing. We’ll try in the morning. But for now, I think it’s time for you to go to bed, don’t you?” Stiles suggested. 

“I guess. Derek, will you come tell me a story too?” Sam asked and Derek glanced at Stiles who raised an eyebrow waiting for him to reply. 

“Sure. Sure I will. What kind of story do you want?” Derek asked as he put the dirty dishes in the sink and started to clear the rest of the table. 

“Can you tell me an adventure story? We can get Stiles to use his magic to get all the figures right and stuff?” Sam almost pleaded and Derek wanted to suggest that maybe it wasn’t the best idea if Stiles used his magic before he had it completely under control, but Stiles nodded in agreement before Derek could say anything.

“You head upstairs, brush your teeth and get ready for bed and we‘ll be up in a couple of minutes.” Stiles replied and Sam practically squealed with excitement as he dashed up to his room to get changed. 

Melissa and Noah offered to wash up while everyone else cleared the table and pulled their books out to begin on homework, Derek headed upstairs after Stiles, a little nervous about how it would be between them. As it happened, telling Sam the story went well, he was asleep within ten minutes of Derek starting and he couldn’t help but grin as he stared down at the sleeping child, he couldn’t help but think about what Sam had been through in the past few months, he hoped he was happy here, he hoped they were providing Sam with a happy, loving home, even if it wasn’t always the most stable, but living in this world, with werewolves and witches and all this craziness it was the most stable they could offer, and it wasn’t like they could offer Sam a way out of it, not with him having received the bite. 

“Stiles?” Derek called as they left the room and Stiles paused on his way back down the stairs, glancing back to look at Derek, “Are you okay? I mean, you look, sort of tired?” Derek asked uncertainly and Stiles scoffed, shaking his head dismissively. 

“I’m fine dude.” He said, moving forwards again. 

“You’re sure? You’re getting enough sleep? The nightmares?” Derek tried. 

“Just as bad as ever.” Stiles shrugged, “But I’m trying.” 

“I could, um…” Derek had been about to offer to sleep in with Stiles and wake him up from his nightmares before he realised that he no longer had that ability, Stiles grinned at him ruefully. 

“Yeah, right, the one downside to no longer having to follow orders. Nobody to order me awake.” He grimaced, “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. Thanks for the offer though.” Stiles said dismissively, walking down the stairs without glancing back at Derek. Derek felt the guilt rush through him, he’d freed Stiles and now he was powerless to help him once again, he couldn’t help but feel guilty about that, it was another way he had let him down. 

Stiles stared at the walls around him, they were covered with blood, so thick that it was running down to the carpet and soaking it, the cream carpet was slowly turning red and it took Stiles a moment to realise that the room was beginning to fill with blood. He jumped off the bed, blood splashing around his ankles as he ran to the door, trying to open it and freezing when he realised it was locked. 

“No! No. No, help! Help! Help me!” Stiles shouted, pounding on the door in fear. 

“What’s wrong sweetie? Scared of a little blood?” Kate laughed and Stiles turned around to see her standing in the middle of the room, the blood was already up to his knees and Stiles could feel his heart pumping so fast that he was certain that it was going to burst out of his chest. 

“You’re not real. You’re dead.” Stiles said, moving around past Kate and heading to the window, screaming in fear when the window wouldn’t open, “Come on. Come on you bastard!” Stiles shouted as he tried to get the window open, feeling the blood lapping at his waist. 

“You always were such a coward. You going to pass out at the sight of a little blood?” Kate taunted as the blood continued to fill the room, it seemed to be getting even higher as the seconds passed and in less than a minute Stiles couldn’t even keep his feet on the floor. The blood was so thick he could barely swim through it, he could feel it lapping at his throat, he was going to drown in it, the top of his head was already scraping the ceiling and the blood was still climbing. 

“Help! Help me! Someone! Help me!” Stiles screamed, desperate not to die but there was so much blood, the space was getting smaller, he could almost see the air running out, in mere seconds he was going to be drowning in blood. He moved back towards the door, pounding his fists into the wall above it, screaming for help, desperate for someone to hear him, to help him. 

“What are you doing?” Kate laughed and Stiles turned to look at her, his stomach lurching when the blood level dropped instantly and Stiles fell, hitting the carpet with a dull thud, he groaned in pain, getting to his feet unsteadily and glaring at Kate. 

“This isn’t real. You’re dead.” Stiles said, holding out a hand as if to ward her off, Kate just giggled in reply, taking a step towards Stiles predatorily. 

“This is always how I loved you the most.” She gestured to the blood that coated Stiles’ skin and clothes, “Covered in blood. The colour suits you, that red, it really brings out the evil in your eyes.” She remarked. 

“I’m dreaming. I have to be dreaming. You’re dead. I know you’re dead.” Stiles said. 

“Really? Because I think I’m real, don’t you? I feel pretty real, don’t I?” She said, moving forwards and prodding Stiles in the chest and he flinched backwards. 

“Stay away from me.” He warned, backing away from her. 

“Oh no, no way kid, you’re mine, remember? There’s no escape for you. You belong to me. You do as you’re told and right now, you’re going to follow my orders and get down on your knees.” She said, pulling a knife from the back of her jeans, a manic grin on her face. 

“No, no, no, no.” Stiles whimpered, backing away until his back hit the door and Kate took another step forwards, “No! Stay back! Stay away from me!” Stiles shouted, flinging his hand out and using his magic to throw Kate backwards. 

Derek awoke to feel the whole house shuddering around him and he scrambled out of bed, rushing out of the room and watching as the rest of the pack piled out of their rooms and looked around, trying to figure out what had caused the entire house to shake around them. It took Derek a moment before he realised that Stiles hadn’t appeared from his room and Derek rushed forward, banging on Stiles’ door quickly. 

“Stiles! Stiles!? Are you okay?” Derek called, caught off guard when Stiles opened the door a crack, he was clearly flushed, his t-shirt was stained with sweat and he looked panicked, he leaned out of the door, pulling it almost shut behind him as he looked around at the gathered pack. 

“What’s up?” Stiles asked almost nonchalantly. 

“What’s up!?” Peter spluttered, “I think we just had an earthquake; the whole house was shaking. Did you not feel that?”

“Um…” Stiles paused and Derek caught the scent of fresh air surging through the small gap in the door, he thought for a moment that Stiles was sleeping with the window open, except it was too high of a concentration for that, it was almost as if Stiles’ whole room was exposed to the elements, he moved forward, pushing on the door hard and Stiles held it for a moment before taking a step backwards and allowing Derek and the rest of the pack see his room. 

Derek stared in amazement at the sight in front of him. The whole far wall of Stiles’ room was gone. It appeared to have been blasted outwards with considerable force as the debris was littering the ground at least ten feet away from where the wall of the house had once been. Derek stared at the missing wall with disbelief before he turned his gaze on Stiles who was too busy glaring at the floor guiltily to notice everyone staring at him in incredulity. 

“What happened?” Noah asked and Stiles shrugged as calmly as he could under the circumstances despite the fact his heart was still hammering in his chest from his nightmare. 

“Just, well, I guess my magic has more power than I realised.” Stiles said lamely and he could tell they wanted more of an explanation. “I guess... you see... the thing is... so I was having a nightmare? And, like, well... I kind of tried to shove a certain person away from me, and like, for the first time, it actually worked, like I saw them flying backwards towards the wall... and... then... well, I woke up and the house was shaking. And, you know, my magic never did that before. Like when I was sleeping, I was just sleeping, you know? Like, dreaming, obviously, but, my magic didn‘t respond to what I wanted in my dreams, but, it turns out, like, now it does. Which is weird, because I’ve been having nightmares pretty consistently for the last couple of weeks since I got my full magic and no matter what has happened, that has never happened before, like, I’ve never been able to blast someone away from me in my dream, never mind like blow up the side of the house, so I’m not really sure what happened there. I guess maybe now I have my full power, it can like, impact on my dreams somehow? Which isn’t exactly great, because I’d kind of like to not drop a house on me in my sleep if I can help it...” Stiles rambled, eventually trailing off when the entire pack were all gaping at him like they’d never seen him before, there was a stunned silence for several minutes before finally Allison cleared her throat. 

“That’s, um, good news.” She said almost uncertainly and Stiles raised a sceptical eyebrow, “No, no, it is. I mean, think about it, if your magic has the ability to affect your nightmares, like, maybe it could help with them too? Like, I don’t know, do a riddikulus spell on them and like, turn them into something funny or happy or something? Is that possible?” Allison continued and Stiles gaped at her in surprise. 

“You know, when you mention Harry Potter things like that so casually, I think I may have just fallen in love with you.” He teased and Allison grinned widely. 

“But, seriously,” She laughed, “Is it something that’s possible to do?” 

“I don’t know? Up until five minutes ago I didn’t even know doing magic in my sleep was possible. So, I honestly have no idea.” He replied honestly. 

“Well, let’s test it out. You go back to sleep and see if you can control the dream.” Scott said enthusiastically. 

“I think you’ve forgotten about the gaping hole where my wall used to be?” Stiles commented, “Like, maybe going to sleep right now isn’t the best thing. You guys go back to sleep though, I’ll fix this and then try and see how I feel.” 

“Are you sure? We can help with the wall?” Boyd offered. 

“Nah, no, it’s cool, I’ve got it. You guys head back to bed. I’ll sort this mess.” Stiles said. 

“He’s right. You’ve all got work or school in the morning. Bed. I’ll stay and help Stiles.” Derek informed them, Stiles wanted to argue with Derek that he was perfectly capable of handling it himself, but he didn’t see the point in arguing just for the sake of it, and, if he was honest, he sorted of missed Derek’s company now that he wasn’t ready to kill him for risking his life to free Stiles. 

As soon as the others had disappeared in to their own bedrooms, Stiles turned to look at the destruction behind him, he could almost sense Derek hovering over his shoulder but he did his best to ignore him as he observed the damage he’d caused, he tried not to panic about the fact he could have brought the whole house down on him and the pack if he’d continued to dream about Kate. 

“Good job you’ve got great architectural skills.” Stiles commented quietly and Derek couldn’t help but snort with laughter, of all the things he’d expected Stiles to come out with, he never would have imagined that. He moved forwards, sitting on the end of the bed and looking at the remains of the wall. 

“I think it’s still structurally sound, you’re lucky that you hit that part and not the other side, that part is a supporting wall and that really would have brought the house down on us.” Derek commented before he noticed the way Stiles almost paled at his words, “But, that didn’t happen, so it’s fine.” He said, standing up quickly and looking out of the wall to the ground, “I think if we pick the bricks up, we could get some scaffolding or a scissor lift or something, we should get the majority of it fixed by tomorrow night. The bricks look like they could still be useable, at least most of them do.” 

“You realise I have magic, right?” Stiles said with an arched eyebrow and Derek blushed in embarrassment, he’d been thinking about it as an architectural project, how to fix it manually, he’d gone in to work mode and, in complete honesty, he had forgotten all about magic being a possibility. 

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Derek nodded, trying desperately to hide the heat in his cheeks by refusing to look at Stiles and instead stared at the damage below them. “So, can you like, pick them up and shove them back in kind of thing?” He asked. 

“I don’t know. I know I can do a lot of stuff, like create furniture and stuff, so I was just going to create a new wall, but then it still leaves all that crap outside, I suppose I could just vanish it, but this is the house you built, I’d kind of like for it to have it’s original walls if at all possible.” He said, closing his eyes and concentrating on feeling his magic, he stretched it outwards, surprised by how much the bricks weighed as he lifted them, until he could guide them back into their rightful places. It took him the better part of half an hour to get everything back where it should be, fixing the damage he had caused as he went, by the end of it he was exhausted, he hadn’t realised how much work went into building a house and it was definitely a lot harder than if he had just created a new wall from thin air, which seemed ridiculous, but Stiles knew from experience how easy it would be to just conjure up something new, anyway, it didn’t matter, the only thing that was important was that the wall was back where it was supposed to be. 

“That’s great.” Derek said quietly and Stiles nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed in exhaustion, feeling a little lightheaded, deciding that he may just lie down for a moment or two to stop the room from spinning. He felt the mattress sink next to him and he knew that Derek had lay down next to him. 

“I don’t want to go back to sleep.” He muttered tiredly, he was exhausted but the thought of going back to sleep, of seeing Kate again, of destroying the house again, it was enough to make him nervous, Derek was silent for a second, obviously trying to think what to say before he opened his mouth and took a breath. 

“If I say they are only dreams and can’t hurt you, I don’t think you’ll believe me. But it’s true. They are only dreams. Memories. You don’t ever have to see them again. Kate is dead. Gerard is dead. You have no master. You are free. You will never have to follow any orders ever again; you will never feel powerless like that again. Other than in your dreams. And, I know I can’t do anything to help with those, but you know your magic works in your dreams now. So, maybe we can make this work to your advantage, you know, like, meditation or something?” Derek suggested and Stiles snorted with amusement, his eyes closed as he lay on the bed, shaking his head from side to side fondly. 

“You seriously think meditating is somehow going to help me get control of my subconscious? It barely works on keeping control when I’m conscious.” He asked in amusement and Derek opened his eyes, turning to look at Stiles, trying not to stare at the moles that dotted his cheek and neck, he wanted so badly to reach out and touch them, before he shook his head to rid the thought from his mind. 

“I don’t know Stiles, I really don’t. I can’t tell you how to recover from this, you’re the only one that can do that, but I’m here for you. We all are. No matter what you need. If there’s any way we can help, any way I can help, then you need to know that I’m here for you.” Derek muttered and Stiles opened his eyes enough to glance sideways at Derek. 

“Thanks dude.” He said and Derek nodded before rolling back on to his back and staring at the ceiling. Stiles didn’t feel himself slipping into sleep, but having Derek next to him, he just felt…safe. Or maybe protected was a better word. It was as if by having his Alpha with him he wasn’t as scared as he had been. For the first time in the last few weeks, since before they had ended up in New York and Derek had begun avoiding him, Stiles fell asleep with ease. 

It didn’t stop the nightmares. 

Stiles stared at Gerard and Kate with horror. Gerard was holding an implant in his hands, it was small, but there were hooks protruding from the sides of it and Stiles realised instantly that it was the same implant that Gerard used to turn him in to a zombie. He touched the back of his head nervously as Kate held up her claws, grinning wickedly as she took a step towards him. 

“No. No. Please.” Stiles said backing away until he felt a wall behind him and he grimaced, there was no escape. “Stop. Please.” He muttered in fear, sinking to the ground and shaking in terror as they grabbed him and pulled him forwards. 

Stiles blinked and realised he was chained up, he was hung in the rack that he had first woken up in, he was staring down at the stone floor underneath him, blood dripping into a bowl on an alter below him. Kate was grinning up at him, blood staining her claws as she licked at them, her smirk widening as Stiles pulled on the ropes and chains keeping him in place. 

“Oh no sweetie, don’t pull on them, you might pull out the tubing and we don’t want that.” She teased, Stiles glanced down and saw the tube buried in his chest and he screamed in sudden terror because it looked like it went straight to his heart. He pulled harder on the chains, straining to escape as Kate laughed brightly at him. 

“Please, please, please don’t do this. Please stop.” Stiles begged pitifully, realising he couldn’t escape, that there was no way out, he was helpless, powerless and terrified. 

“Aww, poor baby. Don’t worry, it won’t kill you, because you’re special, more special than I realised. Pity that stupid pack of yours didn’t realise how special you were, maybe they would have cared enough to have kept you close, kept you safe. Or maybe, just maybe, they’d care enough to give you a call and check you were okay. But they didn’t. Because you are nothing. Nothing to them. Nothing to anyone. The only one who loved you was your daddy, and he’s dead. You’re all alone in the world and nobody is coming for you, because nobody cares, because you don’t matter to anybody. No. No Stiles, you, you are all mine now.” She taunted. 

“No. No. They’ll come. They’ll come. I know they will.” Stiles said through gritted teeth. 

“Who? Who’ll come for you Stiles? Daddy is dead. Scott is too busy chasing after Allison to even call you. Who else cares about you? Derek? You think he’ll come? You were nothing to him Stiles. You were a pathetic human who always got in the way and he’ll be so relieved you’re not around anymore.” She laughed, reaching up and digging her claws in to his leg, Stiles couldn’t help but scream at the pain, “That’s it baby, scream for me. Scream for help. Scream for Scott to come save you. Scream for Derek. Maybe if you scream loud enough, one of them will hear you. We’re still in Beacon Hills after all. Only a mile or two down the road from where I burned the Hales alive. Go on. Scream for them.” She laughed as she dug the claws in deeper.

“Scott!” Stiles screamed in pain, in terror, “Scott! Please! Derek! Derek! Someone! Please! Please help me! Derek!” Stiles screamed with everything he had, desperate to escape, desperate for someone to save him. 

“Stiles, Stiles, it’s a dream, it’s only a dream. You’re safe. You’re safe now. You can stop it Stiles. You have magic. You can stop it. So stop it. Stop it. You can do it Stiles. Just stop her. Stop him.” Derek’s voice seemed to echo from nowhere and everywhere all at once, he turned his head as much as he could, trying to find where Derek’s voice where coming from, trying to see the man with his own eyes as Kate’s claws dug deeper into him.

“Derek? Derek, please. Please help me.” Stiles pleaded. 

“It’s a dream. You are dreaming. You can beat this Stiles. Concentrate on my voice. Focus on my voice. You are stronger than this. Just wake up, okay? Wake up. You’re safe. You’re home.” Derek’s voice kept repeating the words and Stiles felt so helpless, because he couldn’t see him, and he could feel Kate’s claws drilling deeper into his leg and this couldn’t be a dream, it felt so real. “Think of Sam. Think of reading him a bedtime story. Think of taking him to school. Think of helping him with his homework. That’s real Stiles. That’s real. You have magic. So use it.” Derek continued. 

Stiles paused for a second as he took in Derek’s words. Sam? Sam was...Sam. How could he forget Sam!? The young boy with the bright eyes and the mop of dark hair and the smile that made Stiles’ heart throb, because he loved him, he loved him and cared about him and Stiles would do anything to protect him. He thought of Sam’s face, the first time he saw him, in the field with his parents. He thought of Sam’s face the first day that Stiles was back with the pack, when he asked Stiles if it ever got easier. He thought of his laugh when Stiles told him a joke. And his tears when the other boys picked on him when he started school. 

“I’m dreaming. This is a dream.” Stiles said and instantly he was no longer chained. He was standing upright in the room, facing off with Kate, staring at his hands in awe as he realised they were glowing golden with power and Kate looked almost scared. “I’m dreaming. This is my dream and I don’t want you here.” Stiles said, “So leave.” He commanded and within a second Kate vanished from view, turning into dust in front of his very eyes. Suddenly Stiles was aware of tears streaming down his cheeks and warm arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly, stroking his hair gently and reassuring him quietly. 

Stiles blinked a few times, trying to gauge his surroundings, instead of being in that godforsaken room, he was in his bedroom, in his bed, and Derek was clinging tightly to him, obviously distressed at the state Stiles was in. As soon as Derek realised that Stiles was awake and aware of what was going on, he pulled away swiftly, the last thing he wanted to do was make Stiles uncomfortable. 

“Are you alright?” He muttered and Stiles nodded a few times before shaking his head and leaning back into Derek’s arms, trembling as Derek could do nothing but reassure him that it was over for now. Several minutes passed before Stiles’ breathing evened out and he relaxed in Derek’s grip, Derek tried to control his wolf that was positively purring at having Stiles in his arms, he wasn’t sure how successful he was, but he knew he’d managed to stop the whine that he felt in his throat when Stiles pulled away, wiping at his eyes discreetly and looking almost embarrassed by his emotions minutes earlier. 

“Did I ever tell you about where they held me? When they first took me?” Stiles said and Derek stilled, he never expected Stiles to open up to him about that. 

“No. Just that you didn’t remember much.” He replied. 

“I didn’t. Still don’t. There’s lots of blacked out periods. I never know how much of that was because of the implant, or how much was just the use of magic and healing dad and all that. But, I do remember some bits. That’s what I was dreaming about. Being back there. In that room. With her.” 

“You were calling out for Scott. For me. Shouting for us to help you.” Derek informed him, those screams had damn near broken his heart, he’d wanted so desperately to go back in time. To save Stiles. To stop it from ever happening. 

“Yeah. She…um…I…I don’t know if she was lying or not. I never could tell with her. She was so manipulative and evil and just, I don’t know if it was the truth. I didn’t recognise the place. But, I remember, well, she told me, and just, I guess I didn’t want it to be true, because if it was true, then you were right there, and just, weren’t there for me.” Stiles rambled. 

“I’m not following.” Derek said a moment later and Stiles looked up from the covers to look Derek in the eyes. 

“The reason I believed her, when I first came back, about you never caring, never calling, never looking for me, she told me that…I don’t know if it’s a lie or the truth or what, but, she said...when they were performing the binding ritual, I…I was still in Beacon Hills. Or so she said anyway.” Stiles confessed. Derek felt like the floor had just vanished from underneath him, his stomach lurched uncomfortably and he felt like he was going to be sick. 

“What!?” He whispered, horrified by the very thought, “No. No, that’s not…that’s not possible…is it? We would have known. We had to have known. We would have caught your scent. Or heard you shouting. Or known Kate was back in town. Something. We can’t have missed that. We couldn’t have missed that.” He rambled in terror, it didn’t matter that it was nearly eighteen months ago now, it didn’t matter that Stiles was right in front of his eyes, that he was safe and free and healthy and happy and okay. No. Stiles had been in Beacon Hills, being tortured right under their noses, and they hadn’t known!? No. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. “You think she might have been lying? Do you remember the building? Do you remember when you left town? Do you remember where you went when you first left that building?” 

“No.” Stiles admitted. “By that time the implant was in. I remember being in the front yard at our old house, I remember seeing dad on the ground and screaming for them to let go of me so I could get to him, I sort of remember the back of a van, but not really, and then I woke up in a building. I can sort of recall parts of the ritual, really vaguely, sort of, I remember Gerard taunting me about the implant, and then, there’s lots of black periods. I don’t know. The first thing I remember clearly is being in Seattle. But that could have been weeks later.” Stiles said, taking in the look of horror on Derek’s features, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you. I just, I know, I mean, I read…I read it’s supposed to help, talking about it, and, well, I trust you with my memories. And, I know things have been a bit…tense…between us for a little while, and I know I’ve been angry about some of the choices you’ve made. But I do. I do trust you. So, I guess, I wanted to open up a bit. Maybe it’ll help me get some closure, maybe it won’t, but, telling you, it can’t make things worse, can it?” 

“No. No. It definitely can’t make things worse.” Derek agreed, still stunned that Stiles had decided to trust him with that bit of information. 

“Besides, like you said, even if it is true, it doesn’t change anything. She’s dead. Gerard is dead. I’m free. It’s over.” 

“Yeah. Yeah it is. All that matters is that you are alive and okay. You’re right, you are. She’s dead. She can’t ever hurt you again. Nobody can.” Derek agreed. 

“Okay.” Stiles nodded in agreement, although he still looked a little shaken by his nightmare, “Do you fancy some breakfast? I can make us some pancakes or something?” He offered, throwing off the cover and getting out of bed, straightening his t-shirt as he did so. Derek didn’t miss the flash of scarred, pale skin that was close enough to reach out and touch and he wanted so badly to take all of Stiles’ fear and pain away, but he knew he couldn’t do that, instead he just had to be here for him. 

“Sounds good. I’ll just go grab a shower.” Derek said, climbing out of the bed and heading to his own room to get cleaned up and dressed. 

Within days they had fallen back in to their old pattern of Derek sleeping in Stiles’ room to help wake him up, he knew he couldn’t order Stiles awake anymore, which he found hard, but he also couldn’t help but think about the good thing about not being able to order Stiles awake, and that was that he couldn’t order him, to wake up or anything else. Stiles was free. That was all that mattered. And to Derek, the fact that he got to sleep in Stiles’ bed every night, and wake up with him every morning, that was even better. Admittedly he wished that Stiles could sleep easier, that his nightmares didn’t cause him such distress, and, he wanted to think that maybe they were a little easier now that Stiles had found out he was able to use magic in his dreams, although that by no means meant they showed any signs of going away. 

Things were going well, admittedly, Derek wished that Stiles would bond with him, and the rest of the pack, he wished that Erica wasn’t the only one who could get the occasional throb of Stiles’ emotions, because he wanted to feel them too, he wanted Stiles to be one of his pack in every way so badly that it almost hurt, but he couldn’t rush Stiles into this. With the others it had been easy, Derek had considered them pack and that was enough for the bonds to form, but with Stiles is was different, as things always seemed to be with Stiles, Derek wasn’t sure if it was because Stiles was a caster, or if because Stiles was an Alpha in his own right, but Derek couldn’t just form a bond with him, it seemed that it would depend purely on Stiles, if he wanted to allow a bond to be formed between them. Derek wished he could see the bonds like Stiles sometimes could, he loved how Stiles’ eyes glowed that bright gold and he stared for what felt like hours at the bindings that brought them all together, Derek longed to see them, he wondered if they were captivating, he figured they must be to hold Stiles’ attention for so long, but Derek knew he would never be able to see them in the way that Stiles could, he could feel them though, and that was enough for him. 

Stiles still struggled for control of his magic and Derek didn’t expect that to be a simple resolution either, he doubted he would ever be able to comprehend the amount of power that Stiles held inside, it was unbelievable. He’d felt Stiles’ power under Kate’s influence and under Gerard’s, he’d experienced it first hand and been terrified by it, and even though he knew that Stiles would never hurt him or the pack, sometimes that power did still scare him, even if the scent of it was incredibly arousing. Derek wasn’t sure if it was the scent of magic, or the scent of something that was completely unique to Stiles, he was almost certain that nobody else seemed to react the same way to the smell whenever Stiles used his magic in an enclosed space. Although, if Derek was honest with himself, just the scent of Stiles in general aroused him, adding magic to the mix was bound to have that effect on him. It wasn’t really his fault, Stiles was gorgeous and funny and smart and dangerous and powerful and Derek could list hundreds of ways in which he was in awe of Stiles every single second of the day, combined with the fact that he was spending his nights cuddled up to Stiles and not willing to take things any further for fear of scaring Stiles, well, it didn’t really surprise Derek, or anyone else, that he was aroused and more than a little bit frustrated with not being able to do anything about it. Derek was just eternally grateful that at least Stiles couldn’t smell what Stiles did to him. 

None of them could tell exactly what the limits to Stiles’ power were, even Stiles himself didn’t seem to know, whenever he thought he knew the extent of what he could do, he surprised even himself. They had all been caught off guard when Stiles blew out the wall in his bedroom from his nightmare, Derek had tried to tell himself that absolutely anything was possible when Stiles was involved, after all, he’d survived being shot in the chest and managed to save his dad from the brink of death and that was before he’d even known he had magic, never mind how to use it, he’d tried to tell himself that he should never be surprised by Stiles because Stiles could do anything he set his mind to. If Derek was honest though, he wasn’t sure how much of that was Stiles’ magic and how much was just Stiles, because the guy was so damn stubborn that he wouldn’t quit until he’d achieved what he set out to do, that was just one of the reasons that Derek loved him so damn much. 

Over the next few weeks he watched as Stiles gradually began to gain control, there would be odd moments where if Stiles was too emotional his magic would spark outwards, often creating havoc, and most of the time it wouldn’t even do what Stiles wanted it to do, such as when an actual, honest to god, giant attacked them. Even Stiles had limits and trying to keep an easily forty foot tall giant frozen in place took it’s toll on him, he could barely hold him still for more than a few seconds at a time and it only seemed to enrage the giant, who decided to pick up a tree and throw it at Stiles and Isaac, who happened to be stood nearby. Stiles told them afterwards that he’d tried to use his magic to cause the tree to stop mid-air and fall harmlessly to the ground, instead, his magic had flung both himself and Isaac out of the way of the coming tree. Isaac connected solidly with Jackson and they both went down in a tangle of limbs, Stiles flew backwards into the trees somewhere and Derek heard a dull thud a moment later. 

Derek wanted to rush to Stiles, to check he was okay, except now that Stiles was no longer slowing him down, the giant had become determined to wipe out the pack below him, and that seemed to involve stomping on each and every one of them. Derek only just managed to pull Lydia and Allison out of the way of one of his feet, and as he shoved them towards the treeline, he could hear Jackson and Noah shouting behind the giant, obviously trying to distract him. 

At that point he was certain that they were all about to die, there was no way they could fight him, their claws barely broke his skin and they couldn’t reach anywhere past his ankles, it seemed ridiculous to even try and fight him, but giving up meant dying, and Derek wasn’t ready to lose his pack. He’d turned to face the giant head on, unsure of what his plan was exactly, when he saw the giant had turned his attention to Sam and Melissa and both of them seemed to have frozen in shock. 

“Sam!” Derek called out in terror, racing forward, desperate to get to him, his mind already telling him that he wouldn’t be able to make it in time, still, he had to. He had to protect him. He had to save him. He jumped at the back of the giant’s leg, digging his claws in as deep as they would go and starting to rip and tear at the skin as much as he could. He knew it would do nothing more than irritate the giant, but at least if he slowed him down, distracted him for a second, it might give Melissa and Sam time to escape. 

Without warning a fully grown tree came flying through the air and impaled itself in the giant’s leg only a foot above Derek’s head. The giant let out a roar of pain and another tree appeared, stabbing into the giant’s calf. Derek turned his head, curiosity getting the better of him as he had to know where the trees were coming from, and what he saw made him lose his grip and he fell to the ground an instant later. 

“Hey shithead. Get the fuck away from my family!” Stiles screamed as he used his magic to launch another tree at the giant. Stiles’ eyes were glowing bright gold and there seemed to be a mist surrounding him that made it look like his entire body was glowing that same gold. Even as Derek looked at him, Stiles waved his hand and uprooted another tree before throwing it through the air and stabbing it into the giant. 

It was apparent now that Stiles had the giant’s full attention as it rounded on him, reaching an enormous hand down in an attempt to snatch Stiles up, instead he got a tree through his palm and he let out a scream of pain, clutching at his damaged hand for a moment before swatting at Stiles like he was a fly. Thankfully Stiles managed to move out of the way in time but it was a close call and Derek could only watch on in horror as Stiles battled the giant, throwing tree after tree at him, blood trickling from a cut at his temple as he continued to use his magic to pull trees from the ground and launch them at the moving mountain in front of him, until, finally, the giant stumbled away in defeat which Derek was eternally grateful for because not only his pack were all okay and safe but if the giant had fallen and died he was almost certain that not only would the giant have crushed a huge chunk of the preserve but there was also a good chance that he would have taken at least half the pack with him. 

“Stiles!” Derek shouted, rushing forward as Stiles swayed unsteadily on his feet, it was obvious that Stiles had used massive amounts of magic in order to protect them from the giant and Derek was eternally grateful, but still, he wished Stiles looked out for himself as much as he looked out for everyone else. “You okay?” He asked as soon as he got close enough to reach a hand out, resting it gently on Stiles’ arm. 

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Stiles nodded but his voice was subdued, his gaze unfocused slightly and the gold of his eyes only seemed to be getting brighter, “I’m okay, just tired.” Stiles reassured him, giving Sam a hug when the young boy ran towards him, “Maybe I need to lie down for a little bit.” 

“Okay, lean on me and we’ll head home, okay?” Derek offered and Stiles nodded in agreement, leaning into Derek’s side and letting the older man take his weight slightly, mainly because he wasn’t sure if he was going to stay upright otherwise. Apparently ripping trees out at their roots and launching them through the sky at enough speed to pierce a giant’s flesh used a lot of magic, Stiles wasn’t exactly surprised, but he was exhausted, he managed to make it up to his room without falling asleep but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out for the count. 

Derek woke up the next morning feeling a little disorientated, it took him a moment to figure out that it was because several bodies were piled on top of him and, as he looked around, he realised that the pack were all fast asleep in Stiles’ room, the only one missing was Stiles himself. Derek tried not to panic as he looked for any sign of Stiles before he saw that the bedroom door had been deliberately left open a few inches and he heard Stiles’ heartbeat thudding steadily from the kitchen downstairs. He managed to get out of the bed without disturbing anyone else and padded barefoot down the stairs until he stilled in surprise. 

Stiles was singing. 

Not loudly. Barely more than a whisper. But still, Stiles was singing along to the radio. It took Derek a moment to recognise the song and, when he did, he paused, it seemed like something so personal, so accurate to Stiles, he didn’t want to intrude on the moment.

“...carry one, you will always remember, carry on, nothing equals the splendour, now your life’s no longer empty, surely heaven waits for you...” Stiles’ voice trailed off and Derek felt his wolf whine unhappily, despite the fact that Stiles was barely singing loud enough for Derek to hear him when he was only a few feet away, Derek couldn’t deny that Stiles had an amazing voice, he wanted to hear him sing again desperately, it was so long since he’d heard him sing properly. Still, he couldn’t help but smile at how far Stiles had come in the past few months, he recalled the day they freed him from Kate, at how Stiles had almost begged for death, Derek shook his head in fondness, no, that wasn’t Stiles anymore. Stiles had come so far. He was so proud of him. Stiles turned around and met Derek’s gaze and he flushed slightly. 

“Hey.” Derek said in greeting and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“I really thought you’d outgrown your lurking days, but evidently not. You want bacon?” Stiles offered. 

“Sure, yeah, sorry, I just...I forgot how good your voice is.” Derek said lamely, unable to come up with any other explanation as to why he’d been hovering outside the room. 

“What!?” Stiles laughed in reply, “Dude, my voice isn’t good, like, yeah, maybe not terrible, but not good, and anyway, more importantly, when the hell have you ever heard me sing?” Stiles teased and Derek flushed brightly, glad when he heard footsteps on the stairs because it meant he may be able to get out of this mess. 

“You sing all the time.” He shrugged, moving forwards and grabbing a piece of bacon as Stiles’ eyes went wide with surprise, obviously mulling over Derek’s comment. 

“Morning.” Scott said as he walked into the kitchen, closely followed by Sam, Allison and Peter. “You feeling okay buddy?” 

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine, totally fine, a bit tired, but fine...I don’t.” He said and Derek looked at him to find Stiles staring at him with a calculating gaze, “I don’t sing. At all.” 

“Yeah you do.” Scott input and Derek was eternally grateful for Scott, “Actually, wait...” Derek might take back how grateful he was for Scott, “No, you’re right. I haven’t heard you sing in ages, definitely not since you came home. But, before that....I think maybe I heard you once or twice since I got my werewolf powers, but I didn’t even know you could sing up until then.” He shrugged like it was no big deal while Stiles was looking at Derek in confusion, obviously piecing things together, Derek had to change the subject before he did figure it out, he’d never live it down otherwise. 

“So, you are feeling okay? After the giant yesterday? I mean, you passed out as soon as you got to your room. No nightmares?” Derek quizzed. 

“I’m fine. A little lower on magic than I’d like to be, but totally fine, providing no more of them turn up today, I’ll be absolutely fine, and nightmares were a no last night, which was good, and more importantly, just how many times did you hear me singing? Were you lurking outside my house or something? Because I know I only sang when I had the house to myself. So you must have been lurking. Right?” Derek froze, not sure what to say, if he admitted the truth then Stiles would probably hate him, if he lied, he’d probably hate himself.

“It was an accident. I mean, I was coming over to tell you something, and then well, you were cleaning the kitchen and singing along to the radio and then, well, maybe I just listened that time, and then a few other times, and, sorry, it wasn’t like I did it on purpose, but, you have a great voice.” He blurted out and Stiles shook his head in bemusement. 

“You know, giving me a compliment doesn’t change the fact you were lurking outside my house.” Stiles teased and Derek didn’t know how to reply to that.

“So, you can sing?” Sam asked. 

“I guess, maybe? Like, I don’t know, I probably miss most of the notes, but I used to enjoy singing along to the radio, and, um, I guess, maybe I’ll start doing it again, when there aren’t secret ears listening in.”

“You never missed a note. Not even the high ones, like, I used to listen to you sing, god, what was it called…um…it was a Sia song, god, what was it called….’I don’t care if I…’ something and then something about ‘I sing for me’…. It was, erm…” Derek tried to hum lamely, Stiles studied him for a moment, obviously thinking about the song before replying.

“It’s called ‘bird set free’, and yeah, I remember it. It was one of my favourites for a while there.” Stiles hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, yeah, that one. It was amazing.” Derek praised and Stiles shrugged modestly. 

“You should be used to me being amazing by now.” He said sarcastically, dismissing the praise easily, “So, breakfast? I made bacon?” 

“I want to hear you sing too.” Sam pouted and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“Maybe one day.” 

“Maybe we could do karaoke.” Peter suggested and Stiles glared at him, “Or not. Just a suggestion. Anyway, you were saying, no more giant attacks today and you’ll be back to normal?” 

“Maybe the next couple of days, it took a lot more magic than I thought, so I should probably take it easy.” Stiles replied, grateful for the change in subject. 

Derek knew their luck, or more specifically Stiles’ luck, wouldn’t last that long. It wasn’t giants, which he guessed he should be grateful for, no, instead the attack came the next afternoon when they’d all gone out for a walk into the preserve. That was when the harpies decided to attack.

They’d just made it to a clearing, the same one where Derek had freed Stiles of his bindings, he knew that Stiles knew where he was, he was stood on the edge of the cliff with Sam at his side, looking at the view with a soft smile on his lips as he turned and grinned at Derek, Derek couldn’t help but grin back, happy that Stiles had been able to forgive him for what he had done, he had genuinely believed that he would never get to speak to Stiles again, except here they were, and he was eternally grateful.

Derek had taken in the scene, looked at his clearing, his favourite place in the whole world and he was here with his whole pack, he was certain the joy he felt had to be radiating through the bonds to the rest of the pack. He could see a dark mass on the horizon moving towards them, at first glance he thought it was a pack of birds, except as they got closer he realised that they were way too big to be birds and there had to be at least fifty of them and they were flying directly at his pack. 

“Take cover!” He shouted, shoving Erica towards the nearest cover and running to grab Sam who was still near the edge of the cliff with Stiles. He didn’t make it there, talons wrapped around his arms and he felt the ground vanish from under his feet. 

“Derek!” Noah called out from where he was grabbing Melissa’s leg as another harpy tried to pull her off the ground. 

“Mom!” Scott screamed, running from his cover under a tree and racing towards Noah and Melissa, within seconds the entire pack of harpies had landed and were breaking the pack into smaller groups, Derek managed to dig his claws into the harpy hard enough that she dropped him and he hit the ground a few moments later, it was enough to knock the air out of his lungs but he saw the harpy coming back towards him, screaming in rage, and managed to roll out of the way just in time. 

Derek could see Stiles was using magic to freeze several of the harpies but it was obvious that his magic wasn’t back at full power yet and he was pushing Sam behind him, trying to protect him from the harpies that were coming at them from all sides, Derek could see they were getting pushed backwards, closer and closer towards the edge of the cliff behind them, and he tried desperately to get through the throngs of harpies to help them. 

It happened in slow motion, so slow that Derek felt like he wasn’t even able to move, that he could almost feel the moment between each heartbeat despite the fact that his heart was racing. Stiles didn’t see it. Not at first. He was too busy successfully fending off the four harpies in front of him, Derek wanted to be in awe of him because Stiles could fight four harpies with barely any magic and protect Sam, except although Stiles had shoved Sam behind him to keep him safe, one of the harpies had flown around behind them and reached out, long talons digging into Sam’s shoulders and yanking him backwards off the cliff and out into open air. 

“Stiles!” Sam screamed in terror, struggling in the claws that held him tightly, he looked down and all the air left his lungs, the ground had to be a hundred feet below him, he felt like he was going to be sick, Stiles was only a few feet away but it might as well be a mile, there was no way Sam would be able to get back to solid ground. 

Stiles was so busy fighting off the harpies in front of him that he didn’t realise anything was wrong until he heard the panicked scream from Sam, he spun on the spot, unable to process what he was seeing, Sam was staring at him with terror in his eyes, pleading silently for Stiles to save him, except Stiles didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t freeze Sam in mid-air, he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know how to stop it. He could still hear the fight going on behind him, could hear Derek shouting something, but the blood was pounding so loudly in his ears that everything else sounded like background noise. 

“Give us the caster.” A second harpy said through gnarled teeth. 

“Okay, okay…let him go, put him down, and I’ll go with you.” Stiles called out, offering his hands up in surrender, the second harpy grinned at him and Stiles could only watch in horror as the first harpy let go of Sam and he began to fall. He felt talons dig into his shoulder and he sent a blast of magic backwards, dislodging the harpy as he already moved forwards. 

“Stiles!” Sam screamed, reaching out for him, already falling through the air and Stiles knew he couldn’t reach him. He was too far away; Stiles couldn’t get to him. 

“No!” Stiles shouted, he thought he heard a second shout of denial from behind him, but it didn’t stop him from running forwards, jumping from the cliff into nothingness. 

“Stiles, no!” Derek screamed, trying to break through the crowd of harpies that was blocking him from getting to Stiles and Sam, he watched in terror as both Stiles and Sam vanished from view and he screamed in horror, in denial, his stomach dropping, his heart stopping, no, no, no, they couldn’t be…

Stiles fell through the air for a whole second before he managed to wrap his hand around Sam’s wrist and pull him in to his chest. 

“Stiles! Stiles, help!” Sam whimpered in fear, clinging to Stiles so tightly that Stiles could feel him shaking, Sam was terrified, and so was Stiles. They were falling and had only a matter of seconds before they hit the ground, and Stiles had no way to stop them from dying. He turned them over, so that Stiles would hit the ground first and then he squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for a miracle, that at least Sam would somehow survive.

Derek ripped through six harpies, his eyes glowing red, his claws and teeth tearing through anything in his path because he had to get to them, it couldn’t be too late, it wasn’t possible to lose them. The entire pack seemed to have witnessed both Stiles and Sam vanish over the edge of the cliff and they’d all screamed in denial, in rage, and then they’d all surged forwards as one, determined to defeat the harpies and get to Sam and Stiles, even though somewhere deep down they all knew it was already too late. 

Derek made it to the edge first, he didn’t want to look, he didn’t want to make it real, but he had to see, he had to know. He looked over the edge of the cliff, his heart pounding so loudly he thought he was going to be sick and then he froze, he couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing. 

Stiles gritted his teeth and braced himself, he just hoped, prayed that by hitting the ground first it would be enough to save Sam. Instead, half a second later Stiles felt the impact and it knocked the wind out of him, except, it wasn’t as hard as he expected, and, perhaps more oddly, it was wet. At first Stiles thought that maybe it was his own blood, exploding out of him, except then he realised that wasn’t possible, because if it was his blood, he had to be dead by now. He tried to breathe and felt cold water rush into his mouth and then his head was breaking the surface and he coughed and spluttered, hearing Sam doing the same next to him, and Stiles swiped at the liquid running down his face. 

“Stiles!” He heard Sam gasping as Stiles took in his surroundings in awe. They were in water, a great pool of it, a lake almost, deep enough that Stiles was treading water, unable to touch the ground. The bottom of the canyon had been filled with water that had seemingly come from nowhere and Stiles couldn’t make sense of it, but it didn’t matter, because Sam was alive and so was Stiles and it was beyond belief, but they were both alive. 

Derek stared down at the scene below him and he let out a huff of disbelief, he couldn‘t believe it, the relief was overwhelming, he didn’t care that the harpies seemed to be flying away, that one of the pack must have killed their leader at some point through their desperate dash to get to Stiles and Sam. Derek felt another presence at his shoulder and he saw Noah collapse to the ground next to him, tears in his eyes as he gasped in relief, muttering under his breath so quietly that Derek could barely hear him. 

“Thank you, oh god, oh thank you, thank you, god, god, fuck, thank you.” Noah almost chanted as he stared down at where Sam and Stiles were both swimming to the edge of the lake and Sam was waving up enthusiastically at them, whereas Stiles was sitting on the edge of the bank, he looked exhausted but he waved up to let them know he was okay before putting his head in his hands and resting them on his knees. 

Derek was worried, he knew he shouldn’t be, but Stiles was sat on the edge of the lake and he looked on the verge of passing out and there were still harpies in the sky, admittedly they were flying away, but if they saw Stiles, weakened, separated from the pack, Derek was worried they might decide to stop their retreat and change the direction of their attack. Before he really registered what he was doing, he was already jumping off the edge and falling through the air, hitting the water a few moments later. 

“Derek!” Peter shouted as Derek threw himself off the cliff, his heart was in his throat for the few moments before he hit the water and he held his breath until Derek’s head reappeared above the surface. “Oh thank god.” He breathed, “What the hell were you thinking!?” He shouted down as Derek waved up at them. 

“Come on in, the water’s lovely!” He called back, grinning wildly and heading towards the edge of the lake where Stiles and Sam were waiting. 

“Might as well.” Scott shrugged, “Geronimo!” He shouted before diving off the cliff and landing in the water a few seconds later. Within a minute the entire pack had followed, hitting the water one by one and laughing with disbelief as they splashed around in the impromptu lake, any injuries from the harpies already beginning to heal. Derek swam over to Stiles and sat down on the ground next to him as Sam swam back out to the others. 

“You okay?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded in exhaustion. 

“Fine.” He replied, “Alive. Which is surprising.” Stiles commented, staring at the lake in front of him, “I didn’t mean to do that.” 

“What did you mean to do?” Derek queried and Stiles shrugged. 

“Honestly, I have no idea.” Stiles replied honestly, “The only thing I had planned was to try and hit the ground first, maybe Sam would have survived the impact if he landed on me.” Stiles said and Derek stared at him in horror, taking in the tremble in Stiles’ hands that he realised had nothing to do with exhaustion and was more likely to do with the adrenaline of jumping off a cliff with absolutely no plan on how to survive. 

“Stiles...I...” Derek didn’t even know how to begin to deal with that statement, how could he possibly say how grateful he was, Stiles had saved Sam’s life, again. But he’d risked his own to do it. How could Derek be mad at him for that though? When he knew that if he had been where Stiles had stood, he would have done the exact same thing, he would have jumped off that cliff without hesitation, with no thought for his own survival, he would have done anything to try to save Sam, even if it meant his own death, even if there was no guarantee. He wasn’t angry at Stiles, he was just scared, he could have lost both of them in a split second and there would have been no way to save them. He was just eternally grateful for Stiles’ magic. 

“Luckily my magic had some kind of plan even if I didn’t.” Stiles surmised and Derek nodded in agreement, still stunned by his thoughts. “I think I need to go sleep for a bit. I’m tired.” He looked out at the pack still splashing around in the lake, seemingly able to forget the attack from only moments before, he guessed that it was so normal by now that they were all used to it, they could be attacked, survive and move on within a matter of minutes. Stiles supposed that he should worry about if it was healthy for Sam to be exposed to this kind of life, but what choice did they have? Once Sam hit puberty he would become some kind of shifter, possibly a werewolf or maybe something else, none of them could know for sure, not until Sam was older, but the point was that Sam would always be in this world, and this world meant attacks and death and fear. 

“You look a little lost in thought?” Derek queried.

“I wish I’d protected him from Kate. I wish I’d never let her bite him.” 

“You didn’t let her Stiles; you had no choice.” Derek interrupted.

“I know that, but still, if I’d stopped her, somehow, I don’t know, Sam could have a normal life. He wouldn’t have to worry about being dropped off a cliff and nearly dying, he wouldn’t have to worry about giants or other packs or anything else. He’d be somewhere safe, happy, if I’d just been able to stop her from biting him, he could have normality.” Stiles said. 

“Normality?” Derek scoffed, shaking his head in amusement, “Who wants normality when we could have this? I mean, yeah, the whole white picket fence thing would be great, but who’s to say we can’t have that? That we haven’t already got that? Alright, yeah there’s more danger and risk than perhaps non-supernatural families, but what if he had gone to a normal family? What if they’d been in a car accident? Or someone mugged them? Or they went white water rafting and it capsized? Yes, there’s risk being in our family, but there’s also more protection. And, honestly, even if there was something you could do about it, which even with your amazing powers you can’t do, would you really want to? Look at him.” Derek said and Stiles looked at where Sam was playing in the lake, Isaac dunking him under the water for a second and then allowing Sam to pounce at him in response, “He’s happy. We’re his family now. And we all love him, and he loves us. Do you honestly think anybody else would love him as much as we do? Do you think he could find another family, another home, where he’d have as many people around him? As many people who think the absolute world of him? Who would risk jumping off a cliff to save his life?” Derek reasoned and Stiles looked at him, rolling his eyes. 

“Alright, yeah, point proved, you’re right. Besides, like you said, it’s not like I can change it, I can’t take away the fact Kate bit him, I can’t stop him from changing. He will be a shifter. No matter what. And I guess, well, you’re right, he’s got all of us. I mean, not that you aren’t always right,” He muttered sarcastically with a smirk on his lips and Derek grinned, “But, this time, you’re right. If he was somewhere else, he still wouldn’t be with his mom and dad, and yeah, he might end up in a good home, with a good family, but he wouldn’t have all of you, he wouldn’t have you, and dad, and Melissa and Scott, and Lydia, I mean, even Peter seems like he’d do anything for him, which is pretty insane. But, you’re right, he’s better with the pack. I know that really.” Stiles said. 

“You forgot to add that he’s got you too.” Derek replied, knocking their shoulders together and Stiles gave him a small grin. “So, a giant yesterday, harpies today, guessing you need to sleep for like a week now?” 

“A week would be good, but I’ll settle for a night.” Stiles paused, “It’s easier.” He admitted and Derek looked at him in curiosity, “Having you there. I mean, it’s not like the nightmares have gone, which you know, obviously, but they are definitely easier, so, you know, thanks for...just, thank you.” He said and Derek flushed slightly, always caught off guard whenever Stiles showed any kind of appreciation towards him. 

“Well, um, it’s no problem.” Derek said simply. They watched the pack mess about in the lake for another few minutes before Stiles sighed, getting to his feet slowly. 

“You guys should stay here, enjoy yourselves, I’m going to head home, try and get some rest.” Stiles said. 

“I’ll come with you.” Derek offered. 

“No, it’s fine, the harpies are long gone, I’m pretty sure I can manage to walk back to the house by myself without disaster striking, besides you should stay, have fun, I’m only going to pass out as soon as I get home anyway so it’s not like you’re going to miss anything exciting. Don’t worry about it, seriously.” Stiles said, waving Derek away when he made to follow after him, “I’ll see you back at the house in a bit.” He called to the rest of the pack, giving Derek a reassuring wave and heading into the trees. 

Derek watched Stiles wander in to the treeline before he turned his attention back to the pack, Derek grabbed at his wet shirt, pulling it over his head before diving back in to the water, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated as he swam out to the rest of the pack. 

“Stiles okay?” Boyd asked. 

“Fine, just tired. I said I could go with him, he said he could manage to get back to the house in one piece.” Derek shrugged, “He said to enjoy this. He’s going to go pass out at home.” 

“It is pretty amazing really, isn’t it?” Cora grinned, splashing Erica as she swam past, “I mean, Stiles, he freaking created a lake out of thin air, or thin ground, however you want to phrase it. Like, I get it’s magic, but, Stiles is a freaking badass.” She said proudly and Derek couldn’t help but nod in agreement, laughing brightly as Sam splashed him.

“Oh, it’s on now.” He teased as Sam giggled, swimming to hide behind Scott for protection. 

“Quick Sam, on my shoulders!” Scott said and Sam scrambled up on to his shoulders as Erica jumped up on to Derek’s.

“This means war.” She grinned as Derek startled at the sudden contact, he managed to keep his balance but only just, and then Scott was surging forward and Sam was trying to shove Erica off his shoulders even as Jackson and Lydia and Isaac and Cora joined in the play fight. 

Derek wasn’t sure how long they stayed there, it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes when suddenly Erica slipped off his shoulders and into the water without anyone touching her, they couldn’t help but all turn to look at her in bemusement.

“Faker, nobody even touched you.” Jackson scoffed as Erica’s head broke the surface, except then he stilled because Erica had gone as white as a sheet and her eyes with wide with terror.

“What? What’s wrong?” Boyd asked, swimming towards her as she touched her chest softly. 

“The bond. Stiles. There’s something wrong. He’s hurt. In pain. Scared.” Erica said, already breaking out of her trance and swimming towards shore. Derek’s heart went into overdrive. He swam with everything he had, getting out of the lake and following Stiles’ scent easily, racing towards him, he had to get to him, he had to find him now, how could Stiles be hurt? In pain? He was only supposed to be going back to the house!? 

Stiles was tired, he knew that, he was already thinking about his bed, already dreaming of soft cushions and cold sheets. It was his own fault, he was distracted, he wasn’t paying attention, and he only had himself to blame. He had a split second to see the wendigos coming towards him, their teeth already stained red with blood, as a third jumped from the tree above him and landed on Stiles, knocking him to the ground before he even had a chance to defend himself. He felt sharp teeth sink into his shoulder and he screamed in pain, using his magic to blast the wendigo off him but he wasn’t quick enough to stop a second one swinging a branch towards him, he saw it coming, was too slow to stop it, he felt it connect, a sharp stinging pain and then there was nothing but blackness. 

Stiles wasn’t sure how long he was out of it, maybe only a matter of seconds, but it was enough that when he woke, pain flooded through him instantly, he could feel a weight on top of him and claws tearing into his skin, teeth munching on his bare skin and he screamed in pain, struggling to try and throat the weight off him.

“God I want you, I need you.” One of the wendigos hissed into his ear, teeth biting into his neck and tearing chunks out of flesh as he struggled underneath it. 

“Get off me!” Stiles screamed in panic, in fear, in pain. “Help! Help me!” Stiles shouted in terror, he was like a wild animal, not able to think, not able to do anything other than struggle helplessly and scream in fear. 

He didn’t even realise he had done magic, not until the weight on top of him vanished. Stiles rolled on to his back, wincing at the pain but not really feeling it, he knew he was probably in shock, but he didn’t care, instead he was staring at the scene in front of him in horror. All three wendigos were dead, their bodies thrown into the trunks of nearby trees, their heads detached, resting almost gently in different places and Stiles could only stare unblinking at the damage he had caused. 

Derek ran like his life depended on it, he ran faster than he had ever done before, desperate to get to Stiles, desperate to know what was happening. He heard Stiles’ panicked shouts, could almost taste his fear in the air, and then there was silence and that, more than anything, terrified Derek. The intoxicating scent of Stiles’ magic hit him a moment later and he stumbled to a stop, his eyes unable to believe what he was seeing. Stiles was on the ground, there was blood running from a wound on his head, bite marks covering his body and his trousers had been torn open with claws that had left deep wounds on his thighs, he looked terrified, his face pale, horrified. There were three bodies surrounding Stiles, they were clearly dead, and Derek knew he didn’t need to worry about them coming back as he moved towards Stiles who flinched away from him as Derek approached. 

“Hey, hey, Stiles, it’s okay, it’s alright.” Derek said while Stiles stared around with wide eyes that were focusing on the bodies rather than Derek, “Stiles, look at me, okay, look at me. It’s okay. I’m here. It's okay.” 

“I didn’t...I didn’t mean to...I’m...sorry...and...fuck...I didn’t mean to...” Stiles sobbed still flinching from Derek when he reached out to touch him as the rest of the pack arrived behind him. 

“Holy shit.” Jackson whispered from behind him and Derek fought the urge to turn around and tell him to shut up. 

“Stiles, you’re hurt, come on, let me take a look.” Derek said, looking at the blood still running down Stiles’ face. 

“No. No, no. Don’t touch me.” Stiles shouted, shuffling backwards away from Derek and crying out in pain as his injuries made themselves known. Noah moved towards them and Stiles seemed to panic even further, almost falling onto one of the bodies behind him until Derek waved for Noah to still and he did instantly. 

“Stiles, Stiles, look, it’s us, it’s okay, it’s alright, just breathe, okay, deep breathe, in, two, three, four. And out. Okay, just breathe with me Stiles. Deep breath in. And out.” Derek urged as Stiles’ gaze finally met his and he began to copy Derek’s breathing. “That’s it, just like that, in...and out...you’re doing great. Just keep breathing. That’s it, nice and slowly, breathe with me. You’re doing great. That’s it Stiles. In...and out...” Derek kept repeating until finally what could have been minutes or hours later Stiles finally nodded. 

“I’m okay.” He muttered quietly. 

“Okay, good, now, let’s get you up okay?” Derek said, reaching his hand out to grab Stiles’ arm, Stiles looked down at his arm, saw the bites and blood flowing freely and froze. 

“No, no, wait. Blood. There’s blood. Just wait.” Stiles begged. 

“It’s okay, I’ll be careful, come on, if you stand up, we’ll get you home, alright?” Derek said, reaching out slowly and then finally resting his hand on Stiles’ arm. Derek helped him slowly to his feet, grimacing when he saw the extent of Stiles’ injuries, there were bite marks all over his back and shoulders, his trousers had been torn as had his boxers, and there were claws marks all over his ass and hips. “They got a taste of your blood?” He asked and Stiles nodded, “Did they...?” Derek asked with worry. 

“No, um, no, I...god, I didn’t mean to do that. I just, I just wanted to stop them.” Stiles whimpered, looking on the verge of another panic attack. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s alright, we’ll get you home and cleaned up. Then we can see what we’re dealing with, alright?” Derek said calmly and Stiles nodded, it was obvious he was in shock and Derek wanted to hug him and tell him it was all going to be okay, but until he was cleaned up then they wouldn’t see just how badly he was injured, although it already looked bad enough. “So much for being able to get home by yourself without disaster, honestly, you’re never allowed anywhere by yourself again.” Derek said trying to lighten the mood as they walked back towards the house, Stiles leaning heavily on him, it seemed to work as Stiles let out a huff of laughter, groaning slightly as it made his chest hurt. 

“I need a shower.” Stiles said as they stumbled into the house. 

“Sure, okay.” Noah said, getting on the other side of Stiles and helping Derek get him up the stairs as the others moved into the living room, clearly worried but not sure how to help. They got to the bathroom and Stiles caught sight of himself in the mirror, god he looked worse than he imagined he would. 

“I’ve got it.” Stiles said, waving Derek and his dad off and stumbling towards the shower, “I can manage. I’ll be down in a bit.” Stiles said, motioning towards the door and waiting for them to leave. As soon as the door was shut, he sagged against the wall, closing his eyes and feeling the weight of the wendigo on top of him, almost able to smell the putrid stench of his breath as he bit into Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles tried to rid the thoughts from his mind, standing up straight and walking into the shower, stripping off the remains of his clothes and almost crying out in pain but biting his bottom lip to stop himself. 

The first thing he did was use his magic to heal his injuries, by the time he was done he felt weak, his limbs shaking, he knew he was suffering from blood loss, that he needed to sleep for a weak but that wasn’t what was on his mind, instead he couldn’t stop thinking about how he almost hadn’t stopped them, that he’d almost been raped, lost his virginity out on the ground, in the middle of the preserve, only ten minutes from his home. It’d nearly happened so many times before, someone else taking control of his body, and Stiles didn’t want it to happen anymore. He knew he couldn’t stop what his blood did to people, but he did know that he wasn’t going to lose his virginity to some stranger who wouldn’t give him a choice in the matter. No, he was going to take control this time. He washed off the remains of his blood, watching it swirl down the drain until the water finally ran clear again, then he got out of the shower and got dressed into his sweats.

He stayed in the bathroom for what felt like hours, he didn’t want to deal with anyone, not yet, not when his mind was racing this quickly, his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. 

“Stiles? You okay kid?” Noah asked through the shut door when Stiles knew they should all be thinking about going to bed. 

“I’m fine.” Stiles called, “You head to bed, I won’t be long.” He replied. 

“You sure? I don’t mind waiting up, if you want to talk about things?” Noah offered. 

“No dad, I’m fine, honestly. I just need a bit of time, but I’m fine. You go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Stiles said. 

“Alright, okay, sure thing son. I’m only across the hall if you need anything.” Noah muttered, Stiles nodded, feeling his chest constrict slightly as he fought back tears. 

“I’m fine dad. Love you.” Stiles managed to say before he leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. Finally, once he was sure that everyone had gone to bed, he left the bathroom and headed across to his bedroom, a little caught off guard when he entered and saw Derek sat on his bed, obviously waiting for Stiles. 

“Hey.” Stiles said, shutting the door softly behind him and suddenly feeling even more nervous, okay, yeah, this is what he’d been thinking, but he’d not expected Derek to be in here just yet, he thought he’d have more time to prepare himself.


	19. Chapter 19

“How are you feeling?” Derek asked, taking in the fresh skin over where he knew there had been bites a few hours before. 

“Okay.” Stiles said, taking a deep breath before looking up and meeting Derek’s eyes, “Actually, I need to ask you something.”

“Okay?” Derek asked, sitting up a little straighter, uncertain what Stiles was going to say but knowing from his tone that it was important. 

“Back in New York, you used to, well, you know, have sex with people, a lot of people, right?” Stiles began and Derek was incredibly surprised at the subject, but he nodded, unsure where this conversation was going. “And, you’ve said, that, well, they didn’t mean anything, it was just sex, yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Derek agreed. 

“Okay, well, um, the thing is, you’re used to it not meaning anything, so, well, the thing is. I don’t want to lose my virginity to a stranger on the ground, or in the middle of an alleyway, or wherever else. I want to have a choice in it. And, I just, would you…I’d like…” Stiles cleared his throat while Derek just gaped at him, unable to believe what Stiles was saying but needing him to say it so that he could actually hear it and make sure that there was no misunderstanding, “I want to have sex. Tonight. Before anybody else tries to do it without my consent. And I’d like if it was with you, if you’d be willing.” Derek’s wolf started howling excitedly because finally, finally, they got to be with their mate, Derek fought it with everything he had, the last thing Stiles needed was sex right now, he needed support. 

“Stiles…” Derek said, getting up from the bed slowly and taking a step towards Stiles, “I, um…I don’t even...I can’t…you shouldn’t do this. Not right now. I mean, not tonight, you should wait, and not…”

“It doesn’t matter, forget it.” Stiles said, reaching his hand behind him to open the door slightly and give himself an easy escape from this humiliation, “It was a stupid idea, I knew you wouldn’t be interested, stupid thought, forget it, I just, it doesn’t matter, it’s fine, you shouldn’t have to, I’m just going to go talk to Danny…” Derek was moving before he even realised what he was doing, slamming the door shut behind Stiles and glaring at him. 

“You are not going anywhere near fucking Danny.” Derek snarled as he tried to control his wolf that was telling him to claim Stiles now before he went and had sex with someone else. “Stiles, listen to me. You do not need sex right now. You were attacked today. You were nearly raped, you nearly died. You don’t need sex. You’re scared, and that’s the wrong reason to have sex.”

“What do you care?” Stiles argued, “It’s not like it’ll mean anything to you, it’s just sex, and that’s what you do isn’t it? Why would this be any different for you? Is it me? I mean, I know, it’s not like...I know I’m not what you’d probably like, and the scars aren’t exactly a turn-on and god, this was so stupid, I knew you wouldn’t be interested, why the hell would you be? Forget it, it’s fine, it’s not exactly what I want but for some goddamn unknown reason Danny finds me attractive, so, as long as he realises it’s just a one-off and not that that I’m actually interested in him and it’s only so I don’t lose my virginity to some random then it’ll be fin…” 

“Stop.” Derek growled, keeping a hand on the door to stop Stiles from leaving and moving closer to Stiles, invading his space so that Stiles had to look up and meet his gaze, “You are not going to Danny. Understand me?” He said, his eyes flashing red while Stiles looked at him, his tongue darting out to lick his lower lip slightly and Derek’s eyes followed the movement. Stiles froze, his mind racing, his heart beating wildly in his chest, he could feel a flush rising up the back of his neck and he’d never felt such intensity before, like Derek’s gaze was going right through him, he felt exposed, vulnerable almost, but in a good way. 

“Alright, so you don’t want me having sex with Danny because I’m scared, I get it. But I’m not going to change my mind Derek, it’s bad enough I worry about getting raped every time I get a papercut, I am not losing my virginity that way. I refuse to. I am taking control of this, so you can’t just growl me into submission and think that I’m going to change my mind, I’m not, and obviously, it‘s not like he would be my first choice, or that I really want to at all, but if it comes to a choice of being raped by some stranger or Danny...” Stiles rambled. 

“Would you shut up!? This is not about you having sex with Danny because you’re scared. It’s about you having sex with Danny at all. You are not having sex with him. I won’t let you. Okay? You are not doing it. And before you even think that this has nothing to do with it not meaning anything to me, you’re wrong. It has to do with it meaning everything to me. You want to know why I really stopped sleeping around with every single person I could find? Because I met you. Because I saw you in the woods and you were perfect, you were everything I wanted, and I told myself that I couldn’t have you, because you were too close, there would be no getting away from you, I wouldn’t be able to just use you and then forget all about you. So instead I went back to New York and fucked anyone that looked even remotely like you, if they had your moles or hair remotely close to your colour or if they had even sort of similar eyes because I was never going to find anyone with eyes as amazing as yours, but none of them were you and none of them were good enough. And I wanted you like nothing I’ve ever felt before, but I couldn’t have you because I couldn’t trust you. Except you proved yourself over and over and over again. And then I failed you. I left you alone with them. I left you to be tortured and abused and it was on me. I should have realised. I should have been there. And I’m sorry I wasn’t. But then I kill Kate and you come back, you come home, and you are still fucking irresistible, and then in New York…I thought I’d forced you and I’d messed everything up. And you want to know how I managed to fight off your blood when Kate forced me to taste it? It’s because I knew you were trying to make it good for me. I was trying to rape you. I was hurting you, and you were trying to look after me and, Jesus fucking Christ, I just kept thinking how much I loved you, how much I loved every single thing about you and that helped me fight through the effects of your blood. And, god, you are gorgeous and funny and smart and you honestly think I give a shit about your scars? I love you Stiles and there is nothing you could do that I don’t find attractive and there is no way in hell I’m letting you have sex with Danny because the only person you should be having sex with is me!” Derek explained, he didn’t realise he was almost shouting until he finished and Stiles was staring at him with wide eyes, “I mean, if you want to.” He said, clearing his throat as Stiles gaped at him in amazement. 

“Wait, hang on, you love me? Since when? And like, seriously, love me? Not like, I want sex with you, but like, I love you and want to spend my life with you? Because those are two majorly different things, and well...”

“Stiles, how many times have I told you that I like you? I kissed you in New York. I kissed you again the night I freed you, I told you then that it wasn’t because of your blood, I told you I love you.” Derek explained. 

“Yeah but that isn’t the same as you actually love me. Like, maybe you find me attractive, which, I guess, okay, apparently, somehow you do, and now I think that both you and Danny must have hit your heads at some point, and, I know you said you loved me, but I figured that it was kind of like a ‘I love you as a pack member’ sort of thing, so, like, you would do anything that you would do for any pack member, not in like a ‘I love you let’s get married’ kind of way, not that I’m saying I’m expecting you to want to marry me because that is just insane obviously, especially because like two minutes ago I was all ‘let’s just have sex so I won’t be a virgin when I no doubt get raped’ and now I’m talking about marriage and if you could just shut me up right now that would be really great because it’s like I can actually hear myself rambling and I just can’t stop...” Stiles continued, only shutting up when he felt Derek’s lips pressing against his own. 

Stiles was stunned, for a split second he froze and then he realised what was happening. Derek Hale was kissing him. And it wasn’t blood related. It was because Derek wanted to kiss him. He relaxed, returning the kiss happily, the door digging into his back as Derek pressed their bodies together, his hands moving from where they had slammed the door shut and instead Derek had tangled his hands in Stiles’ hair, tugging just slightly and it was enough to make Stiles almost groan in pleasure because Derek was an amazing kisser and he couldn’t believe he’d ever suggested he would be able to give Derek any tips at all, because this was the most amazing kiss he’d ever experienced and he couldn’t think straight, he wasn’t even sure he could remember how to breathe. All he could feel was Derek. The heat of his body pressed up against Stiles’, the feel of his stubble scratching at his skin, the movement of his hands tugging gently on his hair, god, Stiles was losing his mind from a freaking kiss. He hadn’t realised he’d moved his own hands until he felt Derek’s bare skin under his fingertips, his hands resting on Derek’s hips, pushing his t-shirt up slightly. 

It was odd for Stiles to be so willing to allow someone else to be in control, after everything that had happened with Kate and the others, he’d thought he wouldn’t be able to enjoy this, except with Derek it felt different. More than anything, he trusted him. He knew he was safe with Derek. So when Derek started to slow down the kiss, to pull back slightly, to turn it in to several kisses, until it was only a peck on the lips, until Derek was resting his forehead against Stiles’, his eyes closed and an almost pained look on his features, Stiles still trusted him. 

“We need to stop.” Derek muttered and Stiles pursed his lips slightly. 

“Why?” Stiles asked, “I mean, admittedly you didn’t really answer my question as to what exactly you are after, but, I don’t really need to know right now, we can have sex and then talk about it after.” Stiles said, moving to kiss Derek again and pausing when Derek pulled away from him, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. 

“Seriously? That kiss didn’t answer your question as to what I want from you?” He almost growled and Stiles knew that he’d upset Derek even if he hadn’t meant to. 

“Well, you know, it’s not like I’m great at picking up on signals and hints and stuff, I think you need to actually say the words and explain it...”

“I am in love with you Stiles. How can I say it any clearer?” Derek looked distraught and furious at the same time and Stiles really didn’t know what to say, “I love you. I love you so damn much that it physically hurts when I see you hurting and know that I can’t help. I love your eyes, seeing you smile; it lights up my day. I love how you are so loyal and clever and funny and sarcastic and I hate how you don’t see how amazing you are, I hate when you put yourself at the bottom of the list because you should always be at the top. The amount of times I’ve risked my life or the lives of the pack or done something so fucking stupid, and it was always because I thought it was what you needed, you always come first to me Stiles. Above everyone. If you are safe, then everything will be okay. Does that tell you? Does that make it clear that I want to spend every minute of every day with you? That I want to spend the rest of my life with you?” Derek said, almost pacing across the room in his frustration.

“Um, yeah, I guess it does.” Stiles replied quietly taking a step towards Derek and moving away from the door. 

“Meanwhile, you have no idea what you want. You don’t want me. You just want someone to have sex with. And I can’t do that Stiles. I mean, I can, and I want to, you have no idea how much I want to. But I can’t just have one night with you. I want more than that. And I don’t expect you to love me back, but I can’t just have sex with you and then pretend like nothing has happened, because you mean so much to me. So, no, we’re not having sex. Not until you figure out if you want me or you want sex. If you want me, great, but if you want sex, maybe Danny is the better option.” Derek said sounding heartbroken, stepping towards the door and stilling when Stiles rested a hand on his arm. 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles whispered and Derek glared at the floor, looking almost on the verge of tears, “I mean, I’m sorry for...I guess, not realising. That sounds ridiculous, because now you’ve said it, yeah, it seems pretty damn obvious, but I guess I always dismissed it, or misunderstood it, because there’s no way that you would want me. Not really. And, yes, I know you’ve said it now, but I think...” Stiles paused, taking a deep breath to gather his thoughts, “I know that you used to think of sex as just something that happened. A way to forget about other things or whatever. I think, I wanted to have sex with you because it would mean nothing to you, and I’d know that going in, I wouldn’t be upset or hurt when you didn’t want anything else. It would be sex and then it would be over and it wouldn’t have to mean anything. Because, honestly? Why would someone as incredible and amazing and just... perfect, as you want anything else with me? If it meant nothing, then it wouldn’t hurt that it would never be anything.” Derek opened his mouth to protest and Stiles put a hand over his mouth, meeting Derek’s astonished gaze, “Derek, I am messed up. Spectacularly messed up. And I wanted sex. I wanted to not worry about losing my virginity to some stranger. But the thought that somebody would actually want to be with me, never mind have a relationship with me, that just seems so far out of reach, something that would never happen for me. And that’s with anybody, not just you. Never you. Because you are incredible and funny and smart and you have this huge heart and a serious martyr complex and you are so far out of my league it isn’t even funny, so how the hell could you want me? I mean, nobody would want me. Nobody could want me. Not really. Even now, even when you say you want me, my mind is telling me that when you get to know me, I mean, be in an actual relationship with me, you wouldn’t want it. Not in the long term. How could you? I’m fucked up and pathetic and you can do so much better than me, like seriously, so much fucking better. You’d get bored, frustrated, annoyed, because I’m not...” 

“You really think that? You really think that I couldn’t love you just as you are? That I’d get bored of you or frustrated by you?” Derek asked. 

“Basically, yeah.” Stiles replied in defeat and Derek felt all his anger leave him instantly, instead he moved forwards, resting his palm on Stiles’ cheek and meeting his gaze. 

“Stiles, have you not realised that we are basically in a relationship already, just without any of the physical side of things?” Derek said. 

“What? No, we’re not.” Stiles uttered in shock. 

“Yeah we are.” Derek smiled fondly, “We share a home, we share a bed, I have clothes in here, you come crash in my room sometimes, we are basically co-parenting to raise Sam. We are friends, at least I think we are, and I think you think we are too, but I don’t want to make that judgement for you, you make me laugh when it seems impossible, I help you through your nightmares, you cook me breakfast, or I cook you breakfast. We share things about how we are feeling. We go out running together just the two of us from time to time, you make sure I complete projects on time, you are the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I go to sleep, I wake up next to you and think how lucky I am to have even a friendship with you...do you want me to carry on?” He said and Stiles shook his head in disbelief, “Do you really think being in an actual relationship would be that different? The only difference would be that instead of being massively sexually frustrated which I’ll freely admit I am pretty much every time you are around, we could actually have sex, if you wanted to. I mean, yeah, we can just be friends, and if that’s what you want, I’ll go with it. But I want you to know that I want more than that. And if you don’t, that’s fine too. I won’t stop being here for you. I will still be your friend if you still want that with me, I mean, I get if you don’t want it too, but, yeah, whatever you want.”

“I feel a little um...are you sure about this? Because you have to realise you can do way better than me. You’ll be settling...”

“I would not be settling Stiles. You have this idiotic idea that I could have anyone I want, but I don’t want anyone else. I only want you. You’re the only person I’ve wanted since the second I first met you.” Derek interrupted. 

“Okay, that’s good then. And, I mean, like I even have to say it, but...I wouldn’t be settling either. I like you Derek, a lot. I always have. I mean, I thought about you a lot, before...Gerard and Kate. And then I was kind of angry and hurt for a while, because I figured you didn’t really care that much about me, but I wasn’t angry at you, I was just angry at myself for being so annoying that nobody really cared about me, except, obviously that was wrong, just Kate messing with my head. And we know the truth now. So, yeah, I like you, a lot. I mean, I wouldn’t have kissed you in New York if I didn‘t. Also, the only reason I even mentioned Danny was because I figured there was no way in hell you would actually be interested in having sex with me, it’s not like I actually wanted to go see Danny, you were my first choice, you’ve always been my first choice, since the moment I met you. I mean, I realised pretty much straight away, the first time I saw you, that what I’d felt for Lydia, it was…nothing. Not in comparison to what it could be. Because I trust you and I feel safe with you and you’re the person who I...I...I can’t...” Stiles paused awkwardly, “Saying I love you feels kind of terrifying. I’ve never told you, not to hide it or anything, but just, it never really came up, but she...Kate used to make me say it. After she‘d...molested...me. She’d make me tell her that I loved her.” Stiles explained, ignoring the pained look on Derek’s features because now he’d started, he needed to finish, “I’m not trying to use that as an excuse, and I know I can say I love you to my dad and Sam and the pack and even you, and it doesn’t bother me, so long as it’s not an intimate thing, which is ridiculous, I know how stupid it sounds, but telling you I love you in a ‘you’re amazing and I think you’re fantastic and wonderful’ kind of way, I can do that, but saying I love you in a ‘I find you attractive and want to be physical with you’ kind of way terrifies me. But, I do love you Derek. I love who you are as a person, and I love the way you make me feel and I...I really, really, like you. Okay? I like you a lot, enough that I don’t feel scared when you kiss me, I don’t think about how to get away, or how if I hold my breath long enough maybe I’ll pass out and it’ll be over. I mean, I...enjoy kissing you. I feel like I could lose hours kissing you and it still wouldn’t be enough. I don‘t think I can say what you want to hear, not because I don’t feel it, because I do, but I just can’t get the words out without feeling sick.” Stiles rambled, terrified that Derek was still angry at him, or that this would be what would push him away and any relationship they could have had would leave with him. 

“That’s okay.” Derek said reassuringly, “I knew she’d done it at least once. I figured she’d probably done it more than that.” He said and Stiles looked at him in surprise, “The day we found Sam, she had you in the van, then she came outside, kissed you, forced you to say you loved her more than your mom or dad. That you loved her most. That you loved when she touched you.” He explained and Stiles shuddered in disgust when he recalled that day, it was only one day in hundreds, but still, it was enough to make him feel sick. “Hey, Stiles, look at me. If you don’t want to say it, then you don’t have to. I’m okay with that. Okay? I’m not going to get mad at you for you not telling me you love me. You like me. That’s enough for me.” Derek took his hand, intertwining their fingers, and moved to the edge of the bed, sitting down slowly and waiting for Stiles to sit next to him. 

“Sorry.” Stiles said, staring down at his hands and Derek clutched his hand a little tighter. 

“Let’s start over, okay?” He said and Stiles nodded, letting out a deep sigh, “Alright, well, Stiles, I like you. A lot. And I’d like to take you out on dates, I’d like to make you smile all the time because when you smile, I feel like my heart skips, I’d like to make you breakfast in bed and I’d like to kiss you whenever I can. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy and I’d even like to marry you if you wanted to, not that I’m proposing right now, because like you said, that’s a little insane even for us, but, yeah, one day, when you are ready because honestly, I’m totally ready now, I already know I want to spend the rest of my life at your side, but, when YOU are ready, I hope that we could get married, and let the entire world know just how much I adore you.” Derek explained, “Would that be something you’d be interested in? And, don’t feel you have to say yes. You don’t have to. If you don’t want to. I’d still be happy with friends, just so long as you are in my life.” 

“No. No, friends would be good, but I like...I like what you said. I mean, seeing you almost always makes me feel better, I like when you smile because you have the cutest little bunny teeth, I like when you are just as sarcastic as I am, and I enjoy talking to you and spending time with you, I like that you make me laugh, and I have fun teasing you, and looking after you is a full time job because you don’t look after yourself nearly as much as you should do, but I’m okay with that because it means spending time with you. I’ve always enjoyed spending time with you. And I know we haven’t exactly had the easiest run of things, like me being kidnapped and then you ordering me around and stuff, but...I like having you in my life, and, well, the kissing was pretty amazing too. So, there’s that. I mean, I guess, like you said, we’re basically already dating, except without any of the perks of actually dating. Although I guess we’d still spend time together regardless of if we were dating or not, but, none of the good like, physical perks. Which, by the way, just in case there’s any doubt there, I enjoyed. A lot. Because I trust you. I know that I’ve never enjoyed it that much before, and, I guess, maybe now I can actually stop it at any point maybe it would be that I’d be okay with someone else, but I also kind of don’t want to. Not because I’m scared, although that might be part of it, but – honestly – I like that I could be with you that I don’t want to even try with anyone else. Because I...really like you.” Stiles finished, feeling ridiculous that he couldn’t say the words, but he just couldn’t, not when Kate’s voice was echoing in his head, telling him he had to tell her that he loved her. 

“Good. Because I love you Stiles, and nothing is going to change my mind about it. And if you’re not comfortable saying it, that’s fine, if me saying it makes you uncomfortable, then I won’t say it, but I do love you. More than I ever thought possible.” Derek said, beaming happily and Stiles couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly. 

“I’m okay with you saying it, because she never said it to me. It’s just, I can’t say it without...Anyway, this is good, I like this.” He said easily, and he meant it, being with Derek, he felt comfortable around him, relaxed, like himself. 

“Me too.” Derek replied, “Now, let’s talk about sex.” He said bluntly and Stiles stilled slightly, of course this was what he wanted, but now it was a possibility he felt nervous, scared, out of his depth, not sure how he was going to handle it and worried he’d scare Derek off at the first hurdle. Before he could say any of this however, Derek reached out and cupped his cheek softly, forcing Stiles to meet his gaze which seemed to be filled with so much love that Stiles felt like he was drowning in Derek’s eyes, “I meant what I said earlier. We are not having sex Stiles. Not when you’re scared. Not yet. Not until you are actually ready and want to. Okay?” He said and Stiles let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

“Okay.” He agreed simply, unable to believe that he’d ever thought having sex tonight was an option. He wasn’t ready. He knew that. 

“Good. Not that I don’t want to, because I do, but not because you’re scared. Never because you’re scared. If you want to at any point, then that’s fine with me, but I want it to be because you want to, not because you’re scared. Sound fair?” 

“Sounds good to me.” Stiles said, lying down on the bed and looking up at Derek who seemed to be staring at the pale sliver of skin exposed when Stiles had stretched backwards. “So what if I told you I enjoyed kissing you? Would it be okay to do that again?” He asked almost teasingly, like he knew exactly how crazy he was driving Derek just by being there. 

“I’d be okay with that.” Derek agreed, leaning down and resting his hands on either side of Stiles’ body, his body lightly pressing against Stiles’ in all the right places. He’d thought about doing this for so long, but he’d never imagined it would feel this good, to be pressed against Stiles, to see him grinning widely up at him, his eyes lit up with mirth, as if daring Derek to go further. Derek stilled, waiting for Stiles to make the first move, as Stiles lifted his hands off the bed and wrapped them around Derek’s waist pulling them closer together, Stiles seemed to hesitate for a second, as if he expected Derek to pull away, and then he leaned up, bringing their lips together softly, gently, sweetly. It was enough for Derek to feel like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, because it was so tender and loving that Derek knew, even if Stiles couldn’t say the words, he knew with every fibre of his being that Stiles loved him. 

Stiles broke the kiss a moment later, pulling back from Derek and instead resting his forehead against Derek’s, seeming to catch his breath for a second, he looked almost embarrassed by what had just happened and Derek couldn’t help but be confused, he ducked his head so that he could meet Stiles’ eyes and raised an eyebrow in confusion. 

“You okay?” He asked, worried that he’d upset Stiles unknowingly. 

“Yeah, I’m good.” Stiles replied. 

“You’re sure? Because you look a little...off?” Derek queried. 

“No, I’m fine. Just thinking.” 

“About?” 

“You’ll probably laugh.” Stiles sighed and Derek moved position, getting off Stiles to instead lie side-by-side in the bed, turning to look at Stiles and resting a hand on his neck, the excitement he felt just by getting to touch Stiles like that, that he knew Stiles didn’t hate him for doing it, he wasn’t sure it was a feeling he would ever get used to. 

“I promise I won’t.” Derek said, knowing it must be important to Stiles for him to be embarrassed. 

“Well, I was just sort of thinking, it sounds stupid but, I know for a while I thought I loved Lydia, but I knew I was never going to be with her really, and then I met you. And, you were just...incredible. I was captivated by you the second I saw you. And I’d think about you, all the time. Like, constantly. I wanted to know everything about you. Maybe not quite like a stalker, but not far off. And I sort of always hoped that my first kiss would be with you. Which seemed completely insane at the time, because of course you would never want me like that. But a guy can dream. And then...well, all that stuff happened. And, you weren’t my first kiss. That was taken from me. By Kate. And then there were others, so many others I didn’t even know all their names. And I didn’t want them, and I sort of told myself that they weren’t real. It wasn’t my first kiss. It wasn’t a real kiss. You could still be my first kiss. I mean, I also had no intention of ever seeing you again, I’d planned to die without seeing you or the pack, but, in my head, I hadn’t had a real kiss and I wasn’t going to. I was going to die without having my first kiss, and I was okay with that. Because I wouldn’t have kissed you, but I wouldn’t have had a real kiss either. Which I know sounds ridiculous, but it was the only way I could deal with it. So then when Kate gave you my blood, there were kisses, but it wasn‘t you. Not really. And, yeah, the kiss in New York was amazing, but neither of us really took it for what it was, you know, miscommunication and stuff, and even the kiss in the clearing, I still didn’t get it, and I was angry and hurt and confused and I didn’t realise. And earlier tonight, I still wasn’t sure, I didn’t know how...I still don’t really know how you can actually want to be with me, but I believe you when you say you do. So, that, right then, that’s the first time we’ve kissed and I’ve actually thought ‘hey, this isn’t someone kissing me because they want something from me, this is Derek freaking Hale kissing me because he likes me and he wants to’, and then yeah, somewhere in all that, my brain sort of kicked out that this was my first kiss where it actually meant something, that it was because I like you and you like me and not because of blood or confusion or just wanting to make me hurt. And, it was with you. The way I always wanted it to be. You know? Does that sound insane? Because it sounds insane now that I’m saying it out loud.” Stiles said and Derek didn’t know what to say, he wanted to rip Kate and Gerard apart for taking so much from Stiles, he wanted to go back in time and kiss Stiles the first time he saw him, take him in his arms and never let him out of his sight. But they both knew that wasn’t possible. 

“It’s not insane. Or stupid.” Derek replied, “It’s...” He sighed, “I wish I could change things. But I can’t. I wish I could make it so you didn’t have to go through all that, but if YOU are not powerful enough, then there is literally no way could I make any difference. But, I like that I got to be your first real kiss. And I intend to be your last too. Just to make that clear. Because you are incredible and caring and you always challenge me and make me want to be the best version of myself, and just generally, just, I’m in awe of you, constantly. Like, when you were gone, I kept telling myself if I was better, if I did better, you’d be willing to come back. Whenever there was any problem, I’d imagine that you were there, telling me to be smart, to think about it. You’re my...you guide me Stiles. Constantly. You make me want to be better so that I deserve you, because you are the best. I already know I can’t do any better than you. I’ve been there. I’ve seen what other people are like and they will never be you. And I want to spend the rest of life with you, but I don’t want to pressure you, like, you’ve seen bad people, but there’s good people too. I don’t want you to miss out on anything, if you think you might find someone you like more than me. Because all I want is for you to be happy Stiles. I want to see you smile, I want to hear you sing again, and if that is with me then that’s fantastic, but if someone else could make you even happier, then I’ll deal.”

“You’re honestly worried because you think I can do better than you?” Stiles said with raised eyebrows and Derek nodded, “Even if I could, which I don’t think I can, I wouldn’t want to. I like you. I don’t want to be with anyone else.” He paused, “So you want to be my first real kiss and my last kiss. Do you want to be any other firsts in between that time? Or are you planning on killing me off now?” 

“Oh har-har.” Derek said sarcastically, grinning as he leaned into kiss Stiles again, “I’m going to be your only. You’re mine and I’m yours.” Derek smiled, “And yes I intend to be your first for lots of things, and maybe you would want to be my first for a few things too?”

“Your first? For what? Haven’t you done pretty much everything there is to do already?” Stiles asked, genuinely surprised by Derek’s words. 

“No. I’ve sort of explained before, but...I used people. I wanted to forget about what I’d done, and I used other people to do it. But it was never intimate. It was never loving and caring. And I was always...I never submitted or made myself vulnerable to anyone, but I’d be okay with doing that with you.” Derek confessed and Stiles was almost certain that his brain had exploded. 

“Seriously?” He gaped, “I mean, you’d be...with me?” Stiles stammered. 

“Yeah. I would. Because I trust you, and I’d probably enjoy it, and if it makes you feel more comfortable then I’m okay with it.” Derek shrugged and Stiles leaned forwards, kissing Derek before he even realised what he was doing, because the fact that Derek would be willing to submit to him, for him, Stiles felt like his heart was doing flips in his chest, not to mention that his cock had definitely gotten excited at the thought of Derek underneath him. Before either of them realised it, Stiles had rolled on top of Derek, pinning him to the bed as he kissed him, Derek’s hands tugging on Stiles’ hair and moving down his back towards his ass as Stiles pressed their crotches together, kissing him so thoroughly that neither of them could remember how to breathe. Derek’s hands found the hem of Stiles’ t-shirt and he pushed the t-shirt up slightly to rest his hands on Stiles’ skin. Instantly Stiles froze. Stopping the kiss and stilling in place. Derek could smell the fear, the panic omitting from Stiles and he dropped his hands, “I’m sorry.” He whispered, guilt flooding through him.

“No, no, it’s fine. It wasn’t you. It was me. I’m sorry, god, I’m sorry. I just...” Stiles paused, pulling back slightly, “I was enjoying myself. But, maybe that’s enough for tonight?” He whispered and Derek nodded, trying to get himself under control as Stiles climbed off him and instead snuggled into his side, resting his head on Derek’s chest. 

“You don’t need to be sorry Stiles. You did nothing wrong and I definitely don’t want to push you into doing something you aren’t ready for. I love you so much Stiles.” Derek said, wrapping Stiles in his arms and holding him as tightly as he’d always wanted to, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Stiles’ head as they slipped into sleep together. 

Stiles woke up to find himself in the same position that he’d fallen asleep, for the first time in so long, he’d slept through the night without tossing and turning in his nightmares. He didn’t imagine for one second that his nightmares had gone away, even having magic to help him in his dreams didn’t stop him from waking with tears streaming down his cheeks, but somehow, knowing that Derek wanted to be there, not just that he felt that he had to be, but that he actually wanted to be, Stiles was, for the first time, certain that things were going to be okay eventually. 

When he glanced up, Derek was already awake, looking at Stiles and smiling sleepily, Stiles couldn’t help but think that Derek was completely adorable, that he would be more than okay with waking up to Derek for the rest of his life. 

“Morning.” Derek said quietly, as if not wanting to disturb the moment. 

“Hey.” Stiles said softly in reply, stretching slightly and giving Derek a kiss on the cheek, for a moment Derek looked stunned before he grinned dopily, a look that reminded Stiles so much of a puppy that he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, then Derek turned his head, kissing him in reply, a soft, slow, sleepy kiss that made Stiles want to melt into the mattress and never get out of the bed. Instead, there was a short knock on the door that Stiles knew was Sam and then the door started to open, he wasn’t sure if he should move out of Derek’s arms or not, except Derek tightened his grip just slightly, enough to let Stiles know it was okay for him to stay where he was, and then it was too late to change his mind because Sam was already in the room. 

“Are you guys already awake? Noah said he’d make pancakes, but I had to wake you guys up first, he said we could have a pyjama day today if you don’t mind, I said you wouldn’t, because you were so tired yesterday. He told me a story last night, it wasn’t as good as yours, but I didn’t mind because I know you were hurt, are you all healed now?” Sam explained, climbing into the bed and inserting himself between Derek and Stiles who grinned at each other before shifting to make space for him. 

“Yeah, I’m feeling much better now kiddo.” Stiles said, “And a pyjama day sounds good, what do you want to watch? How about ‘Rise of the Guardians’? You know Scott loves that film, even if he won’t ever admit to it.” 

“I guess we could start with that one. Because Scott likes it. Are you going to come get pancakes?” Sam said and Derek shifted, sitting up and glancing over his shoulder at Stiles. 

“Pancakes could be good.” Derek said simply, “I best get there first before you two eat them all.” He joked as Sam jumped onto his back and Derek carried him out of the room and down the stairs, Stiles rolled his eyes fondly before following after them, unable to believe that he’d gotten so lucky. 

“Morning.” Noah called from where he was stood at the stove, turning firstly to look at Stiles and then Sam and Derek, his eyes narrowing almost suspiciously for a moment before he dismissed it. Noah knew something was different, Derek and Stiles’ scents were both different, but he couldn’t quite figure out how. Obviously, they smelled of each other, but they always did, it wasn’t like they wouldn’t smell of each other when they spent most nights in the same bed. But, still, there was something else off about them, he just couldn’t figure out what. He returned his attention to the pancakes, not wanting to burn them, but his mind was still churning, trying to figure out what exactly was different, it clicked into place a few moments later when Derek reached out almost tentatively and gripped Stiles’ hand in his and Stiles gave him a small grin, knocking their shoulders together happily. 

Noah felt like his heart had stopped. He couldn’t believe it. Stiles’ scent was radiating through the room and he was so god damn happy that Noah felt like bursting into tears of joy. Stiles was happy. He was happy and he was hopeful and Noah felt the tears in his eyes, the tightness in his throat, like his heart was suddenly racing, about to beat out of his chest, and it was all because of that tiny movement, that small private smile, Stiles was happy, he was happy and home and safe and for the first time Noah truly felt that everything was going to be okay and he couldn’t help but let out a shaky sob as he moved forwards pulling Stiles into a tight hug. 

“I’m so happy for you kiddo, I’m so happy, I can’t...I’m just so happy.” Noah sobbed into a bewildered Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles looked over the top of Noah’s head to glance at Derek who looked just as surprised before Stiles shrugged slightly and returned the hug, he didn’t understand what his dad was doing, or why he was hugging him so tightly but it felt good so he wasn’t going to complain. Noah eventually managed to get control of himself and pulled away from Stiles, clapping a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eyes, swiping at his own eyes discreetly, “I’m just really happy for you kid, for both of you.” He said, resting his other hand on Derek’s shoulder and they both glanced at each other, there was a moment of surprise before they both broke into wide grins. 

“Thanks dad.” Stiles smiled easily as Sam gaped at them from the table. 

“You told him!? You finally told him!?” Sam said excitedly, jumping from his seat and running towards them both, hugging them tightly as Stiles ran his fingers through Sam’s hair and looked at Derek in bemusement. 

“You told Sam you like me?” He asked in surprise. 

“Of course he did, you’re like the moon to him.” Sam replied quickly and Stiles felt his jaw drop at those words. “Yeah, it was, um, something about gravitational pull, and, there was definitely something about all the other stars in the sky can’t compare and you calm him, definitely, I think, I don’t know. Derek said it better.” Sam tried to explain while Stiles blinked rapidly to try and process the fact that Derek had told Sam, so openly, about what Stiles meant to him, and Stiles hadn’t realised. 

“Really?” Stiles queried in amazement. 

“Yeah. You are. I mean.” Derek muttered, blushing slightly and running a hand across the back of his neck, “It’s not like it’s a secret or anything. I think you are amazing, and you calm me, you make me think, you make me want to be better, and you don’t even realise how exceptional you are, like, I didn’t want a pack or a home or anything, I just wanted to take on the Alpha who killed Laura and hopefully die in the process, and you just....I don’t know, you did everything so effortlessly, like, you didn’t break down walls, you just walked straight through them and then before I knew it, I would have done absolutely anything you asked, for no other reason than it was you...I guess...I know you will always look out for me; and, I don’t know, I can’t explain it very well now that you’re right in front of me, but, yeah, you are good for me. And I like that. I love that.” Derek rambled in embarrassment. 

“Well, you are good for me too. And I like that.” Stiles grinned in reply, giving Derek a chaste peck on the cheek just as Peter walked into the kitchen and rolled his eyes. 

“About damn time.” He muttered as he sat down and grabbed a piece of toast. 

“Did everyone know?” Stiles asked and Derek nodded. 

“You were the only one who hadn’t figured it out, even though I had told you multiple times...” Derek teased and Stiles grinned fondly. 

“And despite the fact I’m obviously a complete moron, you still want to date me?” He replied. 

“Absolutely. And you’re not a moron. You’re just a little oblivious. Which I should have realised since it took Danny actually asking you out on multiple occasions for you to realise he liked you.” Derek laughed, pulling Stiles into his side slightly, just in awe that he was able to be this close to Stiles, to hug him, to hold him, to inhale his scent and smell the happiness that radiated from Stiles so easily. Derek hadn’t known it was possible to be this happy. 

One by one the rest of the pack arrived for breakfast and within minutes they all knew that Stiles and Derek were a couple, Stiles was still in shock that they had all known about Derek’s feelings, but he loved all the celebratory hugs they got, although they weren’t as great as the weight of Derek’s arm slung almost casually over Stiles’ shoulder as they both leaned against the kitchen counter. He couldn’t quite believe that this was real, after all the bad things he’d done, surely he didn’t deserve someone like Derek? He glanced across at the man in question, taking in the stubble on his defined jawline, the flash of teeth behind his smile, the tanned skin, the long, dark eyelashes that framed his undefinable eyes, eyes of every colour, eyes that Stiles could so easily get lost in, and the thought that Derek loved him, that Derek – the guy who looked like he was carved by the gods themselves – could look at him and decide that he loved Stiles, it just seemed insane. Stiles wasn’t good enough in every way, even if he forgot about the awful acts he had committed while he was under Kate & Gerard’s control, even if he forgot about the things his magic had done when he hadn’t meant for that to happen, even if all he thought about were looks, it still didn’t make sense. Stiles had scars. He was covered in them. He was never going to compare to Derek. He was lanky and pale and flailing limbs and hair that stuck out in all directions and scars, so many scars. It made no sense. 

“You okay?” Derek asked quietly as everyone began to leave the kitchen, heading into the living room in their pyjamas, ready for whichever film Sam decided to put on first. 

“Yeah, fine, just still kind of in disbelief that you like me.” Stiles shrugged casually, “I’ll get over it eventually. But, yeah, right now, I’m sort of like, how in the hell did I get so lucky to have someone as amazing as you, who knows about all the crap I did, all the deaths I caused, and all the damage I have, and yet, for some inescapable reason, you love me and that is kind of confusing and scary and I’m just, maybe freaking out a bit.”

“You didn’t cause any deaths Stiles. Kate did. Gerard did. And any other deaths, like the ones yesterday, they were not your fault. That was self-defence. You didn’t do anything wrong. And as for your ‘damage’, you don’t think I’m damaged? I slept with Kate and she murdered my family, believe me, I am pretty fucked up too. But I know I’ll get through it, and I know you will too.” 

“My scars won’t ever go away.” Stiles muttered. 

“So?” Derek said simply, “They don’t make you any less of the incredible person that you are. And, so what that you have scars? They don’t hurt anymore, do they?” Stiles shook his head, “Okay, so, yeah, you have scars, but you’re alive. You’re free. Would I prefer you didn’t have them? Yes. Because it would make you feel better about yourself. But there is nothing wrong with your scars. You survived Stiles. You made it home. You can’t erase your past and I don’t want you to. You survived all of that, I know I wouldn’t have. I know none of us would. You did though. You survived. And I know you probably think it’s easy for me to say it because I haven’t got any, if I could take them away and make you feel better, I would do without a second’s hesitation. I love you Stiles. Every inch of you. I love your smile, your eyes, your moles and I even love your scars, because it means you are alive and here and with me. And I am never going to stop loving you, especially not because of something that you can’t change and that have never made me, for one second, think of you of anything less than absolutely gorgeous and walking perfection. Okay?” 

“You honestly think I’m gorgeous, even with my scars?” Stiles couldn’t help but ask, needing the reassurance. 

“How could I not? Have you seen yourself Stiles? Have you ever actually looked at yourself? Or seen the looks you get? You are gorgeous. I mean, my favourite part is your eyes, without a doubt, or maybe your ass, because seriously, that is very impressive, but you are tall, broad, you’re lean, athletic, eyes that seem to see straight through me, lips that I want to kiss every second of the day, your moles are so damn cute, your hands are captivating, like I love when you get excited and are explaining something and your hands just go everywhere, like you can’t sit still. I am so fucking relieved that you are as oblivious as you are, because if you realised just how many people are checking you out on a daily basis then there’s no way that you would be interested in me.” Derek said and Stiles laughed, rolling his eyes in amusement. 

“Okay, now I know you’re joking.” He laughed. 

“Nope. Deadly serious. I’m the lucky one here Stiles. Because you could do a million times better than me. But I’m going to spend my entire life proving to you that I am worthy of you, if you’ll have me.” 

“Derek, you are way more than worthy...”

“No, I’m really not. You could basically have your pick of the bunch, and, okay, I’m not going to deny I’m an attractive guy, but I also have a lot of issues which you wouldn’t have to deal with if you were just with some random attractive guy.” 

“Now you are just being ridiculous, we both know your issues are nothing in comparison to mine. Besides, I don’t want anyone else.”

“Well neither do I. So I guess that’s a win then.” Derek grinned and Stiles smiled happily at him, leaning up slightly and kissing him softly on the lips, Derek wasn’t sure he was ever going to get used to how perfect and incredible and wonderful that was. But he was definitely going to enjoy trying to get used to it. 

“Okay. Freak out over.” Stiles said decisively, “So, are you ready to spend the day in your pyjamas with our pack?” He smiled softly and Derek nodded, leaning in and giving Stiles a kiss. 

“You bet your ass I am.” He grinned and Stiles laughed happily as he took Derek’s hand and led him into the living room, piling onto the nearest sofa and grinning as Sam snuggled up in between the two of them, it didn’t stop Derek reaching his arm over the top of Sam and playing with Stiles’ hair with his fingertips.

Stiles was sure at some point things would feel more real, that he’d stop waking up and having to remind himself that Derek loved him. Sometimes it was easy to believe, when he woke up and Derek was in the bed next to him and they would have soft, gentle, sleepy kisses, or when Derek would give him a kiss goodbye when he left for school with Sam and the pack, or when Stiles would make dinner and Derek would rest his head on Stiles’ shoulder, his nose in the crook of Stiles’ neck and inhaling his scent. Sometimes it was so much harder to believe, when Stiles woke screaming from his nightmares, Derek’s arms wrapped around him, reassuring him that it was all okay, or when they were kissing and Stiles wanted to take things further before his whole body seemed to freeze at the thought of anybody touching him, how could Derek love him then? How could he possibly love this broken and pathetic version of Stiles? He tried so hard not to think like that, but he wasn’t sure he would ever truly believe that he was worthy of Derek’s love. What always surprised him was when Derek seemed to know, without Stiles saying a word, when those thoughts were going through his mind. Derek always reminded him how amazing he was, how fantastic he was, how much he loved him and how much Stiles should love himself, because he was worth of it.

Stiles couldn’t believe that he could be so lucky, every day seemed to feel like a dream. Admittedly there were still attacks at least once a week, but they always managed to remove the threat easily enough, especially now that Stiles seemed to finally be getting control of his magic. Most of the time they found the threat, Stiles froze them all in place and then he politely suggested that they leave before he got annoyed, almost all of the time, that was an end to it. There had been a couple of occasions where whatever or whoever had been attacking them had continued their attack the second that Stiles had released his hold on them, but of course, they never landed a single hit, Stiles or Derek stopped them long before they got anywhere near a single member of the pack. Stiles knew that he should probably feel bad about killing them, but he didn’t. It came down to a choice of killing them or letting his family be hurt. It meant there was no choice for Stiles. Sure, the first few times he just threw them backwards with his magic until eventually they slinked away into the preserve, but they always came back and they always tried again. Stiles decided then that when somebody attacked, he would give them a choice, to leave or to die. If they left, that was fine with him, but if they chose to attack regardless of his warning, they would die, and he refused to feel guilty about that. It helped that Derek and the rest of the pack fully supported his actions, often complaining that he was taking away all their chances at training. 

Instead the only training they got to do was the training that Derek had them do a couple of times a week, it wasn’t intense, just play fighting really, but it kept them all prepared should it be that they were caught by themselves without Stiles around to help them. Stiles found it a little difficult at first, it reminded him of all the times that Kate had made him fight her, or James, or Daniel, or Matt or all of them together. Of course the problem then had been that he would always be ordered to stop before he could inflict any permanent damage, whereas now the problem he had was to make sure he didn’t accidentally hurt anyone by forgetting that this wasn’t a fight to death, it was just a bit of messing about. Time, as Stiles had found, made a big difference. 

If he thought back to how he’d been when he first got home, tense, stressed, not sleeping, jumpy, unable to believe he would ever have his freedom, that he would ever feel like himself again, that he would ever find his way back from the darkness. Except he looked at himself now, he was surrounded by his pack, his family, he was dating Derek, they were raising Sam together, he was going to graduate from school soon - which he never would have dreamed possible – and he was happy. He smiled, he laughed, he cuddled with his pack, he knew he wasn’t the same as he used to be, he didn’t think he ever would be, but he was hopeful, he believed that things would be okay, for the first time in so long, he truly believed that everything was going to be okay. 

“Stiles!” Scott called out in gym class and Stiles startled slightly, he’d been lost in thought about the feel of Derek’s stubble scratching against his neck this morning when they’d said bye and Derek had kissed him on the lips, along his jaw and down his neck, Stiles was not going to deny it was a huge turn-on for him, because it was Derek freaking Hale kissing him and telling him how much he loved him. He blinked a few times to rid the thoughts from his mind, concentrating instead on the class in front of him, they were currently picking teams to play basketball for the class, Scott was captain of one team and had immediately picked Stiles, instantly there was a groan of disappointment from the other captain and Stiles couldn’t help but grin slightly that he was good enough that both guys wanted him on their team, that Scott wasn’t just picking him because he was Stiles’ best friend. 

“Jackson!” The other captain called. 

“Boyd!” Scott shouted. 

“Eddie!” Stiles realised that it was the same Eddie who had been kind to him when he’d been having a bad day and he couldn’t help but give the guy a quick grin as he joined the opposite team. Within a minute they had picked their teams and Coach was looking at them assessingly. 

“Good, good, okay, McCall call it in the air.” Coach shouted. 

“Tails.” Scott said quickly, they watched as the coin flipped in the air until Coach caught it and held it in his hand. 

“Heads. Smith, your win, shirts or skins?” Coach said and Stiles felt himself tense up, he knew what was about to be said and he winced, he wished he’d realised what Coach was calling for, he would have made sure Scott’s team won the call. 

“We’re shirts.” Smith replied and Stiles grimaced, noticing the other pack members pick up on his distress, Jackson was there before he knew it and looking at Stiles with concern. 

“We can change teams; I’ll square it with Coach.” Jackson reassured him. 

“What’s wrong Scar? Afraid of taking your shirt off?” Somebody muttered from nearby, Stiles wasn’t sure who it was, he was glad about that, if he knew who it was, he would smack them. 

“It’s fine.” He whispered, knowing the pack would all hear him clearly. “I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” He said, standing a little taller and squaring his shoulders. “I’ve got it, it’s fine.” He reassured them, he could still see the pack standing nearby, all hovering, waiting for him to change his mind, and then he thought back to what Derek had said, his scars didn’t define him, he was a survivor and he didn’t need to be ashamed of them. He pulled his shirt off over his head before he could change his mind. 

Stiles could hear the intake of breath from those closest to him, the blood was pounding in his ears, his heart racing in his chest, but Stiles took a few breaths and tried to concentrate on something else, thankfully the others followed suit and pulled their shirts off quickly, Scott snatching the ball and throwing it across to Boyd who scored easily while the rest of the class were still gaping at Stiles. Stiles moved as soon as the ball hit the court, dodging past Jackson and grabbing the ball from behind him, the movement seemed to snap everyone out of their trances and within moments the game was being played with no attention being paid to Stiles’ scars. 

Of course there were a few comments from the other team when they started to lose, mainly trying to cause Stiles to lose focus and therefore give them a chance at winning but Stiles was having none of it. Sure, he had scars, but he wasn’t in pain from them anymore and more importantly he was kicking the other teams ass without even breaking a sweat. 

“Here!” Stiles called and Boyd threw the ball over Jackson’s head, Stiles jumped, caught it and slammed it into the basket just as Coach blew his whistle signalling the end of the game. 

“McCall’s team win. The rest of you, suicide runs for two minutes. Get going!” Coach roared and they all started sprinting the length of the court as Scott pulled Stiles in for a hug. 

“I knew you could do it dude.” Scott said happily. 

“It was only a game Scotty.” Stiles replied easily and Scott pulled him into his side. 

“I wasn’t meaning the game, I mean, dude, you know your scars don’t bother us, but I know they bother you, so, I’m proud of you. You are awesome.” Scott said and Stiles felt like he might just burst into tears at just how sincere Scott sounded in that moment. He couldn’t find the words so instead he just pulled Scott into another hug and squeezed him tightly for a second before letting go and swiping at his eyes as discreetly as he could. 

“Stilinski. My office.” Coach called, “The rest of you, you’re done. Go get yourselves cleaned up and to your next class.” Stiles grimaced, not sure what he could have done wrong before he threw his shirt on and followed after Coach. The office felt a bit too small as Coach settled behind his desk and motioned for Stiles to sit in the seat opposite, he tried his best remain as calm as possible, but he couldn’t help but feel worried. 

“Everything okay Coach?” Stiles asked. 

“I guess those scars means all the rumours I heard are true?” He asked out of the blue and Stiles tensed slightly. 

“Yeah.” Stiles replied. 

“Do you need any support? Any counselling?” Coach said simply and Stiles stared at him in shock. “Listen up kid. It’s obvious that you have been through significant trauma. It’s also obvious that you are a talented kid who could do anything he sets his mind to if he focuses. So, I want to make sure there’s nothing standing in your path, including yourself. So, are you getting help in dealing with your trauma?” 

“I’m good Coach. Honestly.” Stiles said sincerely, “I’ve got my family. They help. I’m doing good.” 

“Glad to hear it. I won’t be your Coach for much longer, but I expect to hear great things about you Stilinski. Don’t settle for less. Now get out of here.” Coach dismissed him and Stiles was surprised by the warmth in Coach’s words, he’d always thought the guy wasn’t bothered about any of them, he gave him a grin and hurried out to the changing rooms. 

“Good game.” Eddie said as Stiles started to get changed, Stiles didn’t miss the way his eyes travelled over the scars on his chest, lingering on the triskelion burned into his skin. 

“You too.” Stiles replied, pulling a fresh shirt on and shoving his dirty clothes in his bag, already looking around for Scott or any of the pack. 

“I was wondering if you are free on Saturday?” Eddie asked and Stiles shrugged, still sorting his bag out and looking around for the others. 

“I don’t think so, Sam wants Liam and Tyler to come over and I said I’d help them build a new den in the preserve.”

“Oh. Maybe next weekend instead then?” Eddie tried. 

“Um, I guess maybe. Why?” Stiles asked in curiosity, finally spotting Isaac and taking a step towards him. 

“I thought we could go out, you know, like on a date?” Eddie offered and Stiles stilled in his tracks, meeting Isaac’s eyes who was grinning widely, no doubt already planning on how he was going to tell Derek about this moment. 

“Um. Well. That’s, erm, that’s really...I kind of...I’m sort of...I have a...I’m already seeing someone.” Stiles said awkwardly, flushing red in embarrassment. 

“Really? Danny? Because I mean, you guys were all over each other the other month.” Eddie asked sounding disappointed. 

“No. No. Definitely not Danny.” Stiles said, Danny chose that moment to appear over his shoulder and grin at them both. 

“What’s not me?” 

“We’re not dating.” Stiles said. 

“I wish we were. But, alas, your heart has been claimed by another.” Danny teased and Stiles shoved him playfully. 

“So, not Danny?” Eddie persisted. 

“No. It’s, um...” Stiles wasn’t sure he should be telling anyone, it wasn’t like he’d really talked to Derek about making their relationship public. Still, it wasn’t like they were doing anything wrong, and people would find out eventually, “It’s...I’m kind of...well, it’s still sort of new and...” 

“Jesus, you’d think he’s about to have an aneurism!” Danny grinned, “Unfortunately for us Eddie, Stiles here has been snatched up by someone who we would only dream about being lucky enough to get. Derek Hale. And what’s worse, Derek is totally in love with him. Like he’s head over heels for him. You should see them together, it’s kind of sickening how cute they are. I’m also extremely jealous. And totally would be okay with getting in the middle of them, but apparently they don’t want to share so that sucks.” Danny said and Stiles could only gape at him, for the second time today he was speechless. 

“And on that note...” Stiles trailed off, squeezing past both Eddie and Danny, to reach Isaac who was laughing quietly as anyone left in the locker room stared after him in amazement. He heard several people ask Danny if he was actually serious, but Stiles almost ran from the room in order to make sure he didn’t hear anything else. 

Stiles couldn’t wait for the end of the day so that he could get out of here, since Danny’s little announcement in the locker room all anyone seemed to be talking about was the fact that Stiles was supposedly dating Derek Hale, and if they weren’t talking about that, they were talking about Stiles’ scars and how Derek must be completely insane to want to date him when Stiles was no doubt traumatised by what had happened to him, and that was if what Danny had said was even true, there were several suggestions that Danny had made it all up just to stop people talking about Stiles’ scars. 

The sooner he got out of school today the better. When the last bell rang, he couldn’t wait to get out of there, he almost ran out of the school, glad that Isaac and Allison were already by his jeep so that he could leave, admittedly he’d planned to leave regardless of if anyone was waiting for him or not, but he was glad someone was there because he wasn’t sure he was all that safe to drive. His hands were shaking, he didn’t know if he was angry at everything he’d heard this afternoon, or if he was just upset, either way he couldn’t wait to get home and see Derek, to tell him what had happened and listen to Derek reassure him, listen to him tell Stiles that they were all idiots and of course Derek wasn’t insane to date him.


	20. Chapter 20

“Hey.” Derek greeted him as soon as he walked through the door, he stilled, obviously taking in Stiles’ appearance and realising that something was wrong as the rest of the pack arrived in the driveway and Sam ran down the stairs grinning at Stiles happily. 

“Hi.” Stiles replied glumly, dumping his bag on the ground near the doorway to the living room and stepping forward to pull Derek into a hug. Derek was a little caught off guard by the hug but he wasn’t going to complain, he loved Stiles hugging him, the only thing that bothered him was that Stiles smelled miserable and he wanted to ask him about it but Sam was there, already telling Stiles all about his day and what had happened at school, Derek raised a questioning eyebrow in Stiles’ direction, who rolled his eyes, shrugged it off as if it was nothing and then turned his attention to Sam. 

“...And then Liam told her that it doesn’t matter who you love, so long as you love them, they can be a boy or a girl.” Sam laughed and Stiles smiled widely. 

“Really? And what did your teacher say to that?” Stiles asked. 

“She said that some people might not think that way, but really I think she just doesn’t like the fact that Derek likes you more than her.” Sam explained and Stiles furrowed his brow, trying to make sense of Sam’s statement. 

“What?” He said eventually while Derek blushed from next to him, refusing to meet his gaze. “Why would...I mean...huh?” 

“Well, when she asked Derek out and he told her that he loved you...”

“I’m sorry...what!?” Stiles said in shock. 

“Okay, long story, she asked Derek to talk to her after school and she thought that you weren’t a good influence and then she thought we were in a cult and then she asked him out and Derek said no because he loves you and then she was really rude.” Sam explained while Derek just looked at Stiles sheepishly. 

“She thinks I’m a bad influence?” Stiles asked, he was jealous that Sam’s teacher had asked Derek out, but he wasn’t exactly surprised, anyone with any eyesight whatsoever had to realise how attractive Derek was. But primarily, he was hurt, hurt that this woman who barely knew him thought he was a bad influence on Sam. 

“Ignore her Stiles. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Scott said, obviously able to tell what Stiles was thinking, as he moved forwards and put an arm around Stiles’ shoulder, pulling him in to his side softly. 

“Yeah, you’re not a bad influence. She only said that because she fancies Derek. So anyway, I told her that Liam was right, and she didn’t look very happy, but she couldn’t argue because if she did then that means she thinks it’s not okay to just love someone for being them, and that’s not okay.” Sam continued evidently oblivious to just how bad Stiles was feeling. 

“Anyway.” Erica said, evidently able to feel through the bond just how hurt Stiles was by the teacher’s comment, “We should change the subject; do you want to know what Stiles did at school today?” She asked Sam who nodded in excitement looking to Stiles who was flushing brightly. 

“Nothing important. It was just gym class.” Stiles shrugged as casually as he could. 

“Don’t be modest Stiles. Stiles won the basketball game. Admittedly, they would have won regardless because they were already winning by miles because Stiles is freaking amazing even without cheating and using magic, but…he sunk the final basket too.” Erica grinned. 

“That’s great Stiles!” Derek said but he thought there was more to the story judging on Stiles’ reaction. “Isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, I mean, it was fine, and I was fine. It just kind of...” He sighed heavily, “It was a shirts versus skins game and take a wild guess which team I got on.” He mumbled sarcastically. 

“Oh. And you...?” Derek hesitated uncertainly until Stiles nodded, “Well, there’s nothing for you to be ashamed of, I love seeing you shirtless so...”

“You weren’t the only one.” Danny muttered and Derek turned to look at him, “Woah! Not me! Okay, sort of me! But, I wasn‘t meaning me in this particular instance. I mean, you should be totally grateful to me, I had your back. Eddie was asking Stiles out and Stiles was freaking out and tripping over his words and stuff, so I tactfully explained that he’s already dating you.” Danny clarified. 

“Okay, so that’s good right?” Derek asked and Stiles shrugged. 

“I guess, I mean, I wasn’t sure if you wanted people to know, and then like loads of people think you have to be insane to date me considering how I must be totally fucked in the head, and everyone else thinks Danny is just making it up to distract from my scars and I just...I don’t want you to be embarrassed...”

“Stiles, why the hell would you think that I would be embar...” Derek froze in place, his head cocking slightly and Stiles knew that he had heard something out of place. Stiles reached for his magic instantly, stretching it outwards and feeling the presence of another werewolf pack approaching their home, not to mention there was a caster with them and Stiles’ muscles bunched in tension. “This conversation is not over.” Derek said quickly before striding towards the front door and out into the front yard, the rest of the pack following after him. 

Stiles stood shoulder to shoulder with Derek, the rest of the pack half a step behind them, as the invading pack emerged from the treeline and moved towards them. Stiles was angry, beyond angry, he was enraged, the pack had to be at least forty strong, he knew he could take them without issue, but it didn’t change the fact that they had dared to walk on Hale lands without an invitation and he was going to make them pay for that. 

“Alpha Hale.” The other Alpha said in greeting. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Derek growled. 

“My name is Jerome Watson, or Alpha Watson if you prefer.” Jerome introduced himself, “I have brought you a gift.” He stepped to the side slightly and three members of his pack shoved forwards Ethan and Aiden, the Alpha twins. They were bound and gagged and had obviously been beaten severely, Derek couldn’t help but be confused, partially because he didn’t understand how they were alive when Deucalion had said that he’d killed them and also because there was no way this was a gift to him not to mention there was no explanation as to why Stiles seemed to tense next to him, Derek could feel the rage radiating from Stiles and he reached out for his hand, interlacing their fingers softly to try and keep him calm. “We of course know how badly they betrayed you. Death is a fitting punishment for them, don’t you think?” 

“They never betrayed...” Derek started. 

“I wasn’t talking to you Alpha.” Jerome sneered, turning his gaze to Stiles who looked like he was ready to murder the man where he stood. 

“You’re alive.” Stiles muttered in shock, he was obviously stunned by the appearance of Ethan and Aiden, Derek wanted to ask what he meant but Stiles had already taken a step towards them, “Let them go. Now.” Stiles growled and Derek could almost taste the magic in air, Stiles’ eyes were beginning to glow a brilliant gold and Derek knew that it was only Stiles’ sheer force of will that was keeping his magic under control right now. 

“Don’t tell me you care about them? After what they did?” 

“I said let them go. Or you really aren’t going to like what I do to you.” Stiles snarled and Derek wasn’t even going to try and tell Stiles not to bother about them, it was clear that Stiles knew them from somewhere and Derek would get the full story out of him after they’d dealt with this, for now, it was obvious that Stiles didn’t want anything else to happen to the twins and Derek would help him however he could. 

“Caster. Freeze them.” Jerome snapped in anger, “Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” He said clearly, smirking at Derek as he did so. 

Stiles felt the magic of the other caster freeze them in place a split second before Jerome issued the challenge and Stiles would have laughed if he could have done. The magic holding him in place wasn’t as strong as his, he could feel it already beginning to fray at holding such a large number of them still and he was determined to break it, he just needed a bit of help to get started. He allowed his eyes to glow gold, the bonds between his pack becoming visible, he grimaced as the other caster’s magic held him in place and he pushed with everything he had, using his magic to grab hold of the bonds of his pack and pull on them. He saw all eyes turn in his direction, he felt as all the bonds solidified and he could finally feel his pack’s emotions, it was enough to make him want to weep, because although they were scared, feeling helpless as they were once again held by magic, they all had complete and utter faith in him. They believed in him. He used their strength, their faith, their confidence in him, gritted his teeth, dug his heels into the ground and roared in anger and pain as he pushed through the magic that held him in place. He felt the other caster’s magic snap away from him and he rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck slightly and trying to rid the stiffness from his body. 

“I said freeze him you stupid piece of shit.” Jerome said, rounding on a member of his pack, Stiles looked at the kid, he couldn’t have been more than fourteen, he looked terrified, he was as pale as a sheet, there were fresh bruises on his face, he was dressed in clothes that were at least two sizes too big, he flinched when Jerome turned towards him and that enraged Stiles more than anything else he’d ever felt. Because he looked at that kid and he saw himself, he realised exactly what he must have looked like when he was under Kate’s control and Stiles never wanted anyone to feel like that again. He used his magic, stopping Jerome in his tracks when he raised his hand to smack the kid and when Jerome turned his head to look at Stiles in surprise, Stiles snarled, baring his teeth, feeling almost feral in his rage, it was taking everything he had not to snap his fingers and snap Jerome’s neck at the same time. 

“You have really fucked up here.” Stiles said, taking a step forward and feeling the rest of his pack relax as the caster’s magic dropped from them and they all breathed a sigh of relief, reaching out and touching each other’s arms or hands, letting them know that they were all okay. That it was all going to be okay. Stiles twisted his fingers slightly and the bindings on Ethan and Aiden fell away, instantly they surged forwards, Derek took half a step forward, as if to protect Stiles from them, but before he could move any further, Ethan and Aiden were already at Stiles, their arms wrapped around him, their heads buried in the crook of his neck as they both hugged him tightly. 

“We’re sorry, we’re so sorry Stiles, we tried, we tried to find you.” Aiden whimpered and Stiles hugged them both back. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here, I’m alright, you’re safe, you’re okay, it’s going to be okay.” Stiles reassured them, still glaring at Jerome and his pack who were all looking at them in sudden terror. 

“Σε προκαλώ στο δέσιμο του κάστορα σου.” Jerome said again sounding panicked and Stiles smirked at him. 

“If it didn’t work first time, why would you think it’s going to work second time?” He taunted, freezing their entire pack, including their caster. He felt kind of bad about that, but he had to in order to protect his pack, the caster was looking at him in fear, no doubt able to feel the power behind Stiles’ magic. 

“Caster! Do something!” Jerome squawked and Stiles took another predatory step towards him, pushing Ethan and Aiden behind him, they stood awkwardly between Stiles and the Hale pack, but their eyes were fixed firmly on Stiles, as if they couldn’t bear to tear their gaze from him. 

“I can’t.” The kid whimpered in fear, Stiles looked at him again, he was maybe thirteen or fourteen, with dark blonde hair that was cut short, something about the cut made Stiles think the kid had done it himself and he fought back the wave of rage he felt, where were his parents? Why was he bound to Jerome? 

“I’m not going to hurt you. You’re going to be okay.” Stiles said, looking directly at the kid who was staring at him with petrified eyes, he glanced over Stiles’ shoulder, looking at Ethan and Aiden, looking at Derek and the rest of the pack until his eyes fell on Sam who gave him an almost nervous wave. “What’s your name?” Stiles asked almost gently, ignoring Jerome for now, he would deal with him shortly. 

“I...um...I’m not...allowed to have a name.” The kid replied obviously terrified of Jerome hurting him. 

“Well, you are now. Do you want me to tell you why that idiot’s plan didn’t work on me?” Stiles offered and the kid nodded with wide eyes, “Because my master, Derek, the Hale Alpha, he found a way to free me. I’m not bound to him anymore. I’m not bound to anyone. So, if you want to, you can have a name, and we can find a way to free you too, you don’t have to stay with him if you don’t want to?” 

“I...” The kid glanced at the pack around him and then back at the Hale pack, “I...my dad...” The kid pointed to a wolf who was stood several people away from them, snarling at Stiles as best he could while frozen in place. 

“Your dad? He’s part of this pack?” Stiles asked in genuine surprise and the kid nodded, Stiles straightened up, moving to the man in question and glaring at him. “What’s his name?” Stiles snapped. 

“Caster.” The man snarled in reply and Stiles gritted his teeth, losing control and killing him now would not help the situation.

“The name he was born with.” Stiles retorted. 

“That doesn’t matter. He’s not that person anymore. He’s Jerome’s caster now.” The man said and Stiles clenched his jaw, moving to the man in question. 

“You have one chance and one chance only. If you don’t tell me his born name right this second, I will rip your head clean off your body with a snap of my fingers. Understood?” Stiles threatened and Jerome glared at him before nodding tightly, “What. Is. His. Name.” Stiles said. 

“Dean.” Jerome replied and Stiles was still tempted to kill him anyway, but he kept it under control. 

“Okay. Care to tell me how Dean here came to be under your control? Or why his dad won’t even say his real name? Or furthermore, why his dad is in your pack, letting you beat and order his kid around without even attempting to challenge you for ownership?” Stiles said sounding more dangerous than Derek had ever heard him before. Stiles had finally bonded with him and he was so happy about that, except he could feel the rage and hatred that Stiles felt towards Jerome, he could also feel the empathy that Stiles had towards Dean, how he could see himself in the kid and Derek wanted to do anything he could to help, all he could think to do was to project to Stiles – through the bond – just how much he loved him, how fantastic he was, how Derek was constantly in awe of him and how incredibly happy he was to have Stiles as his partner. Stiles glanced in his direction, raising an eyebrow in surprised amusement and Derek smiled happily at him before Stiles returned his attention to Jerome. 

“How did he free you? You were supposed to be bound! You were supposed to be mine!” Jerome said in disbelief, Stiles stared at him coldly. 

“I don’t belong to anyone anymore. Only those that I choose to belong to. Now. Answer my questions and, depending on your answers, maybe you don’t die today.” Stiles replied. 

“His dad came to me a couple of years ago. The kid's mom was a druid of some kind. He knew about our pack, he wanted to be like us, I told him it wasn’t going to happen. Then he turns up with the kid. He’s showing signs of magic. He’s killed the mom, so she won’t come looking for them. He told me the ritual to bind his magic to a ring, so I could control the kid’s magic. In return he wanted the bite. We did the ritual. I gave him the bite. That’s it.” Jerome explained and Stiles could feel the disgust radiating from every member of his pack, none of them able to believe that a father would be willing to do that to his own child. 

“You son of a bitch.” Noah snarled angrily, taking a step towards the man in question, “To your own son!? You helped that bastard put your kid through that!?” He hissed in rage and Stiles reached out to put a hand on his arm reassuringly. 

“It’s okay dad.” 

“No it’s not. Look at him. He’s a kid! A child! Barely older than Sam! And his dad...his pathetic excuse of a human being did that to him! To his kid! You deserve to rot in Hell for what you’ve done and I’ll send you there myself if I have to.” Noah said, his eyes flashing blue and his teeth elongating slightly. 

“Dad, take a breath. It’s okay. He’ll pay for it. It’s alright.” 

“No, no, because if I’ve had a chance to stop Gerard, if I’d been able to stop him, if I’d known where you were or what they were doing, I would have died before I let them hurt you, and that...that bastard...he let them, he helped them, how could he!? How could he do that!?” Noah shouted in rage. 

“Dad, dad, look at me, it’s okay. I’m okay. Alright?” Stiles said, stepping in front of his father so that he didn’t do something insane like murder the man in front of him, even if Stiles felt very much like doing that. “You okay?” He said a minute later when Noah had finally got his temper under control. 

“Fine. Just. I’m fine.” He said through gritted teeth. 

“Good. We’ll deal with him in a bit, okay?” Stiles said and Noah nodded, “Okay. Dean.” Stiles turned his attention back to the kid and Dean stared at him nervously, “Do you want to be bound? Or would you prefer to be free?”

“I’d, um, I’d like to be free...if that’s possible?” Dean whispered quietly, obviously uncertain if he would be punished for saying that. 

“Okay, well, it is possible. Derek freed me. But unfortunately, I know Jerome won’t be willing to free you. Which means we can’t free you using that technique.” 

“That was the only way to do it Stiles, we spent months looking for it and that was the only way to free a caster from their bindings.” Scott said and Stiles shrugged. 

“That was the only way at that point. Except, I am pretty fucking powerful, and right now I am damn pissed off, so if there’s a way to break the bindings then you can bet your ass my magic is going to do it. So, hang on a second.” Stiles said, allowing his eyes to shift so that the bonds became visible. He looked at his pack, saw the bright, thick, steady glowing bonds between them, felt the love and confidence and friendship and faith and family that they all felt for each other, he could even see Ethan and Aiden’s bonds reaching out for him and he touched his fingertips to them softly, accepting the bonds with ease and watching as both wolves looked to him in awe, all the worry seeming to drain from them in an instant. 

Stiles turned his attention to Dean, turning on the spot and studying the bond between Dean and Jerome. He was sickened at the sight of it. There was nothing healthy and loving about the bond, it was a black sludge like rope, very much like the sludge that Stiles used to throw up when he disobeyed an order, it was connected to the ring on Jerome’s finger and spread almost like tentacles across Dean’s chest, Stiles was repulsed by it and he couldn’t help but wonder if that was what the bond had looked like between his ring and him. He decided it was probably better that he never knew. 

“Okay, Dean, we have a couple of options, I’ll tell you and then you can decide what you want, does that sound okay?” Stiles said and Dean looked nervously at Jerome before glancing back to Stiles. 

“Please...I don’t want to...if I stay with him...”

“No. No that’s not happening. Jerome will never give you another order. Okay? You have to believe me. I will never let him order you again. You don’t have to be scared of him anymore. He won’t have any power over you.” Stiles reassured him and Dean looked at him almost hopefully. 

“Okay. So, what options?” He asked quietly. 

“Alright, well, the one that won’t hurt you would be if I challenged Jerome for ownership, I kill him and I become your master. I don’t want to do that. Because I know how awful it is to be bound to someone, and I also know how hard it was for Derek to be my master when he really didn’t want to be. We could then try to free you with me as your master, but I don’t know if it would work, the pack would be very unhappy about it as it would mean both of us could die and you’d be in pain afterwards which could last days, weeks, months or even years, it’s individual to each caster. That’s option one. You would be bound to me instead, I don’t want to do it, but you wouldn’t be in any pain until we tried to free you.”

“Option two?” Dean muttered, looking at the pack behind Stiles who had all looked terrified at the mention of trying to free Dean. He didn’t know how Derek had freed Stiles, but it was obvious that the thought of repeating it made them all scared, and he didn’t want to do that. 

“Option two is that we could get someone you trust to be your master instead? They could challenge Jerome and they could become your master. Is there anyone in your pack that you would trust? That you know would never intentionally hurt you or cause you pain by forcing you to follow orders?” Stiles asked, Dean looked around at the members of the pack surrounding him, he looked terrified at the thought, and worse than that, he looked scared that they would somehow hurt him for not wanting to belong to them, Stiles knew that look, he’d felt it when Kate and Gerard had owned him, the fear on a daily basis of what they would do to punish him if he disobeyed. The fact Dean had obviously suffered the same fate made Stiles’ heart clench, there was no way in hell he was letting anyone else hurt Dean like that. “Okay, option three.” Stiles continued like option two had never been suggested, and Dean gave him a grateful smile, “Option three is I try and break the bindings using my magic.”

“Is that possible?” Dean said. 

“Honestly? I have no idea. I know that the person who found the way to free a caster before me didn’t have any magic, and I know my pack don’t have magic, but I can try. The downside is, well, there’s lots of downsides, it might not work being the main one, but also, it could hurt a lot. And if it does work, like I said earlier, you could end up being in pain still. When I was freed, the magic that was bound to the ring was released, I gained a lot of power, but my body had to adjust and nobody could help with that. I was in a lot of pain for almost a week, and I mean, like, heaps of pain, like you’ll wish you were dead levels of pain. If you want me to, I’ll do my best to break the bindings, but you could end up in a lot of pain, the only positive I can say is that it will end. Your body will adjust and you will survive, plus, I guess, you’ll also be free. No bindings. No following orders. If you want me to, I’ll try?” 

“Stiles, I don’t know about this, what if you can’t do it?” Derek asked uncertainly. 

“We won’t know if I don’t try. But, it’s up to you Dean. I can’t make any promises, and I don’t know what will happen. But, I’ll try, if you want me to.” Stiles offered and Dean glanced between Derek and Stiles before Sam stepped forward and Dean turned his gaze on him.

“Stiles will be able to help you. He saved me. He can save you too. I know he can.” Sam said with fierce determination. “You just have to believe in him. I promise, he’ll help you.” Dean raised an eyebrow in bemusement before taking a deep breath and looking back to Stiles.

“Okay then. Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s try that. Please?” Dean said and Stiles nodded, gritting his teeth, knowing that he was probably going to cause Dean pain, but having to believe that it would be worth it to free him. 

“Alright, let me know if it hurts too much and I’ll stop.” Stiles advised.

“You mean right now?” Dean asked nervously. 

“No time like the present. Unless you want to wait?” 

“No. No. I just… I could be free, right now?” He asked in disbelief, in hope. It was that emotion that made Stiles more determined than ever to make this work. He would help Dean. He had to. 

“Yeah. If you want me to?” He queried and Dean nodded a little excitedly. Stiles reached for his magic again, allowing the bonds to become visible, he braced himself, not really sure what to expect and reached forward, touching the bond between the ring and Dean. It felt like sludge, there was no other way to describe it, it was dirty, thick, slimy, sludge and Stiles felt his stomach churn at the feel of it. He pulled on it experimentally and he watched as the bindings began to wrap themselves around his hand, he tried to pull away and felt the sludge thicken, holding his hand in place, he used his magic to try and release his hand but it didn’t seem to do anything and, within seconds, both of his hands were caught in the bond and Stiles could feel the panic beginning to surge through him. The thought of being bound again, of not belonging to himself, of having to follow other people’s orders...no. No. He couldn’t let it happen. He forced more of his magic towards the sludge, desperate to free his hands, desperate to break the bindings, he knew his heart was racing, and then the pain started. It felt like he was on fire, like his hands were burning and it was spreading as the sludge began to work it’s way up his arms, he screamed, crying out in pain, in fear, he couldn’t get free, he couldn’t get his hands out and the pain was overwhelming. 

Derek was apprehensive about Stiles trying to free Dean, but he knew there would be no talking him out of it, and he believed that if anyone was capable of doing it then it was Stiles, he had absolute faith in him. He’d watched nervously as Stiles had reached forwards, touching something that none of them could see and he couldn’t help but be in awe of Stiles in that moment. Except then it started to go wrong, Dean mumbled quietly that it was starting to hurt and then Derek heard Stiles’ heart start to race, could feel the panic in their bond. He reached forward, hoping that his presence would sooth Stiles in some way, except he could only stare in horror at the black sludge that appeared out of nowhere, Stiles’ hands were coated in it and it was starting to work it’s way up his arms and then Stiles started to scream in pain and Derek felt pure terror from every member of his pack at the sight in front of them. 

What was worse was that Stiles had obviously redirected his magic to try and stop the sludge from spreading and suddenly Jerome and his pack could move. Jerome smirked, charging straight for him and Derek realised that at that moment he couldn’t help Stiles, if he tried to help him, the pack would all die. 

“We’ll protect him. Go!” Aiden called and Derek hesitated for the briefest second before he ran for Jerome, determined to stop the man from hurting his pack even as Jerome’s pack began their fight in earnest. 

The packs came together in a clash of claws and teeth, Derek knew they were outnumbered, over two to one, but he also knew his pack were well trained and deadly, they had to be, he couldn’t lose them, not now. He tackled Jerome to the ground when he was a foot away from Sam, trying to go for the kill shot but unable to get his claws near Jerome’s neck without exposing his own weak spots. 

Stiles was vaguely aware of a fight going on around him, he could see somebody nearby, maybe two somebodies, they were protecting him from something but he wasn’t sure what, it didn’t matter anyway, if he didn’t get rid of the sludge he was going to be dead or a prisoner again, he had to focus on his own fight. 

Noah killed Dean’s father with ease, he didn’t even feel bad about it, any man that would be willing to do that to his own child, well, he didn’t deserve to be breathing and Noah had seen to it that he stopped breathing as soon as he got the chance. He turned away from the man’s fallen body in time to see another pack member heading straight for Stiles, he was about to charge after him, worried he wouldn’t get there in time, when Ethan collided with him and they went down in a tangle of limbs. Noah wasn’t sure what had happened between Ethan, Aiden and Stiles, he was determined to get the full story at some point, especially as to why Jerome thought they’d betrayed Stiles, but right now, he didn’t care, all that mattered was protecting his son, his pack, his family. 

Scott felt claws tear into his side and he howled in pain, he’d slammed into the wolf that was going after his mom, he knew he wasn’t in the best position to do so, but it was either attack at that moment or watch his mom die, and he knew which he would choose every single time. It meant that when they landed, Scott was the one pinned to the ground and although he managed to hold the wolf off enough that his throat wasn’t torn out instantly, he still couldn’t stop the claws tearing into his side and the pain was enough to make him cry out in desperation. He needed help. 

Lydia saw Scott go down hard and a moment later heard him howl in pain, she screamed as loudly as she could, blasting the wolf on top of Scott off him and backwards a few feet. She ran forwards, trying to help Scott to his feet, but she knew he was badly hurt, she took a second to glance around the yard, it was obvious the fight was not going in their favour, already she could see Erica standing protectively over an unconscious Danny and Isaac was doing his best to hold off three wolves while Cora tried and failed to get back to her feet. She could feel a scream building, she knew what was going to happen, any second now she would scream for someone’s death, and her heart told her it would be someone in their pack. 

Stiles struggled against the sludge that seemed to be gaining momentum, it was all the way up his arms now, spreading towards his chest and up his neck, he knew he had only a matter of moments before it overwhelmed him completely and he refused to allow it to happen. He was not weak. He was not broken. He was strong enough to beat this, he knew he was. He used every last ounce of his magic, gathered it in his chest, felt it build like a fire in his chest and then he let it explode outwards in a great burst of power. 

Stiles saw as the sludge burned away into ash, as it disintegrated into the air, his gaze followed the burning sludge, up his chest, down his arms, off his hands and then he watched as the bond itself disintegrated into nothingness, until there was nothing there to bind Dean to the ring. He felt a moment of satisfaction before his vision went black and his legs buckled. 

Derek could smell the sudden increase in magic in the air, he knew it meant Stiles was working serious magic, it was stronger than anything he had ever felt before including the protection spell and he was terrified but he couldn’t do anything right this second as Jerome was still fighting him with everything he had. Derek almost had him pinned in place when there was a sudden blast of magic that knocked them all off their feet and into the ground.

Derek groaned, getting back to his feet uncertainly, it felt like a bomb had gone off, there was a ringing in his ears, everything seemed muffled, there was grit in his eyes and his head felt fuzzy, he blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings as he looked around the yard. Everyone had been blown over by the blast of power coming from Stiles but there were several people already getting to their feet, obviously just as disorientated as Derek was. He could see Aiden, Ethan and Dean all rushing towards where Stiles was lay unmoving on the ground and Derek felt his heart skip uncomfortably in his chest as he took an unsteady step towards Stiles, cursing the ringing in his ears that was stopping him from hearing Stiles’ heartbeat. 

Derek stumbled forwards, his heart beating too fast, white noise in his ears as he saw the others in the pack beginning to rush towards Stiles, the panic was overwhelming, the sheer terror he felt was like nothing he’d ever experienced because Stiles was lying on the ground and Derek couldn’t hear his heartbeat. Finally, oh thank god, finally, Stiles stirred slightly as Scott helped him sit upright and Stiles blinked a few times, pressing a hand to his head gingerly, Derek saw Lydia turn towards him, her mouth open as if in a scream, he assumed she was just calling out that Stiles was fine, but she looked terrified and everyone seemed to be staring at him in horror. 

"Derek!” Lydia screamed, it was torn from her throat without her consent and it was the first thing that Derek had heard clearly since the wave of power and in that instant, he realised; he was about to die. 

He didn’t feel the claws slam into his back, not at first, it was more like a pin prick, almost an irritation that he could forget about easily enough. Then the pain hit him, his legs buckling as the claws withdrew and there was nothing left to keep him upright. 

“No!” Stiles screamed in denial, all the weariness in his body evaporating in an instant when he saw Derek fall, he reached for his magic without meaning to, teleporting to Derek’s side in a split second while everyone else was only just beginning to react, he didn’t even feel the usual pain that came with teleportation, it was just background pain in comparison to the sight of Derek falling. He saw Jerome standing above them, his grin wide as Derek’s blood dripped from his claws, Stiles flung his hand outwards, sending Jerome flying through the air and slamming into the nearest tree with enough force that it collapsed on top of him, Stiles didn’t know if he was dead or not but right now it wasn’t his priority. Instead he turned his attention to Derek. Derek who was lying on the ground. Derek who was bleeding profusely from his injuries and Derek whose heart was already slowing. “No. No. Derek. Derek. It’s okay. Stay with me. Okay?” Stiles whimpered in terror, reaching for his magic, terrified at how little magic he had left after freeing Dean, he didn’t have enough magic left to heal Derek. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Derek muttered almost deliriously as he struggled to keep Stiles in focus, he felt the presence of the rest of his pack around him, he knew it was bad, he knew Lydia had screamed for his death. He could feel warm hands on him, touching him softly, and suddenly the pain wasn’t as bad, he knew his pack were draining his pain and he would be eternally grateful for that, he didn’t want to leave them, he wanted to stay, but he was so tired, so weary, he just wanted to rest. He wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready to leave them. He had no choice in the matter though, he could already feel a coldness seeping into his skin, he was dying. He was dying and he couldn’t stop it and he couldn’t stay with them. His throat tightened at the knowledge that he was going to leave Stiles and his pack, it felt like his heart was shattering at the thought, tears filled his eyes and every breath was a struggle. He could hear Stiles calling out to him from somewhere close by, but Derek couldn’t keep him in focus, his eyes wanting to close against his will, and even as he tried to keep them open, his vision seemed to be fading. 

“Derek, Derek, please, please, stay with me. Don’t leave me. Please.” Stiles sobbed, using his magic to try and force the wounds to heal but he didn’t have enough, he was about to pass out and the blood had barely slowed, “Please.” He sobbed, “Help me! Someone help me! Please. Save him. We have to save him.” Stiles begged, tears spilling down his cheeks, his hands shaking where they clutched at Derek desperately, “Please, please Derek, stay with me, don’t leave me, please, I need you, please.” 

“Stiles, it’s going to be okay. You’re okay. I love you. I love you. Stiles. You’ll be okay, look after them, look after...” Derek whispered, unable to keep his eyes open as he felt death claim him. 

“Derek? Derek! No. You have to wake up! You have to wake up! Please! Derek! Please!” Stiles screamed as Derek went lax in his grip, “Someone do something. Please. Please. Someone help him. I love you. I love you Derek. I love you. Please. Please don’t leave me.” Stiles sobbed broken-heartedly, looking at someone to help him, someone to have an answer even as Melissa started CPR to keep Derek’s heart beating. One look at Lydia’s face told Stiles everything he needed to know; Derek was dead. The raw grief that Stiles felt at that thought was overwhelming, it stank out the clearing, it poured through their bond like nothing any of the pack had ever felt before, Derek was dead. His mate was dead. Stiles hadn’t told him how much he loved him. He’d been scared and he’d waited and now it was too late and he was never going to get the chance. “No! No. Derek! Please! Please! Don’t leave me! Please!”

“Here, let me, I’m pretty sure I can’t heal as well as you because freaking teleportation dude, but maybe you can use my magic?” Dean offered, pushing through the pack in order to get to Derek and Stiles, Stiles stared at him for a split second before he nodded and grabbed Dean’s hand pulling him down to his knees. They rolled Derek onto his side and Stiles refused to think about the fact Derek was clinically dead, it wasn’t true, it wasn’t possible. They were going to save him. They had to save him. Stiles wouldn’t let him die. He couldn’t. 

“Okay, concentrate on stopping the bleeding, that’s all you need to do, just stop the bleeding, I’ll fix the damage, you stop the bleeding, got it?” Stiles ordered and Dean nodded quickly, looking nervous but determined. He gripped Stiles’ hand tightly and then closed his eyes, doing as Stiles instructed as concentrating solely on stopping the bleeding. 

Dean had never really gotten to heal people before, it wasn’t like Jerome went out of his way to kill people, but if they crossed him, they died. And he didn’t need Dean to heal them, all he needed him to do was stop them from hurting Jerome as they fought. Jerome liked to make sure that there was no doubt he was the one responsible for the death, that he didn’t need magic to help him. Dean was okay with that, although he knew that if he hadn’t used his magic to save Jerome then his challengers would have beaten him a hundred times over. As much as Dean disliked doing anything to help the man, it wasn’t like he could disobey. He’d been in a bit of pain when Stiles tried to free him, nothing as bad as Stiles had suggested it could be, and nowhere near bad enough for him to want Stiles to stop if there was a chance it could mean he would be free. Then the blast of power hit him, hard enough to knock him off his feet, and he felt like he had more magic than he had before, not lots, but a bit and it didn’t hurt, it felt natural, right, and Dean knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Stiles had done it. He’d freed him. And he’d never be able to thank him for that. Except Jerome had had to ruin it, he’d stabbed Derek in the back when Derek was moving towards Stiles and then Stiles vanished on the spot, teleporting to Derek’s side, which Dean thought was incredible, except Derek was dying and it was his fault. He should have told Stiles not to bother freeing him, to just kill him and be with his pack instead. He wanted to make it right, he wanted to fix it, so he pushed through the gathered Hale pack and crouched down next to Stiles and offered his magic, he didn’t know if it would be enough, but he had to try, he had to try. 

Stiles felt his vision waver as he fought for consciousness, he gritted his teeth in determination and forced his magic to continue healing Derek, he couldn’t lose him, he couldn’t. Not now. Not after everything they’d been through, that they’d gone through to find each other. He refused. He could feel the magic coming from Dean too, it didn’t feel like he had anywhere near as much as Stiles, but he was so fucking grateful that the kid was even trying. He knew they’d done nothing to deserve Dean’s help and he couldn’t believe that he was even trying to save Derek. It made Stiles even more determined, he was not going to fail Derek, he was not going to let Dean fail either. Even when his lungs seemed to be unable to inhale Stiles kept pushing, even as his vision swam, he was going to save Derek, no matter what. 

There was a dull thud of a heartbeat and suddenly Derek sat upright, sucking in a breath for the first time in a few minutes and coughing as he inhaled the oxygen greedily. Everyone was too stunned to say or do anything, except then Stiles flung himself forwards, pulling Derek into a hug, kissing him quickly as love and relief poured through their bond. 

“I love you. God, I love you Derek. I love you. I thought I’d lost you. Please don’t leave me, don’t ever leave me. I love you. I love you so much.” Stiles said and Derek stared at him in a stunned silence for a second before he pulled him into another hug. 

“I love you too Stiles. I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re okay.” He muttered into Stiles’ shoulder. 

“Me!?” Stiles scoffed, “You’re the one who just had his spine practically ripped out.” Stiles said through his tears. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m alright, it’s okay.” Derek reassured him gently, “I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going to leave you. I promise. I love you. It’s okay.” He said as soothingly as he could as Stiles sobbed into his shoulder, the shock beginning to hit them both at just how quickly things had gone wrong and how differently things could have ended if Dean hadn’t volunteered to help, that thought alone made Stiles freeze, he hadn’t even thanked him, he didn’t even know how Dean was feeling now that he was free, Stiles hadn’t even asked, although, to be fair to himself, he had been experiencing a life or death situation at that moment. He let go of Derek, looking around and spotting the young boy hovering nearby, Stiles was surprised to see that Sam was holding his hand in reassurance and Dean was looking at Stiles nervously. 

“Thank you. I didn’t say it...but thank you, I couldn’t have done it without you. You saved his life.” Stiles said, standing up and pulling Dean into a hug, his hand still clutching tightly to Derek’s because there was no way in hell he was letting go of Derek anytime soon, not when it felt like his heart was still about to burst out of his chest at the thought of losing him. 

“You saved mine first, I figured I owed you.” Dean muttered in reply as there was a groan from the tree that had fallen on Jerome. Stiles glanced around, almost all of Jerome’s pack were dead, those that weren’t were already fleeing into the preserve, Jerome stumbled out of the branches, he was covered in wounds that were already healing and he could only stare in astonishment at Derek who was standing up and glaring at him in pure hatred. 

“You are in such big trouble.” Sam grinned and Stiles bared his teeth, it was taking everything he had not to storm over there and rip the guys head clean off his shoulders. 

“Sam’s right.” Stiles agreed, looking to Derek who was rolling his shoulders, ready to shift into his wolf, glancing past him to see Dean, who was staring at Jerome in sheer terror, already taking a step backwards towards the safety of the rest of the Hale pack. “Hey, Dean, it’s okay, he can’t hurt you anymore. He’s powerless compared to you, and even if he wasn’t, we won’t let him hurt you.” Stiles said softly and Dean turned to him, moving to his side and huddling close to him. 

“I don’t have much magic left, not after helping save Derek. I couldn’t stop him if he attacked.” Dean whispered sounding terrified, he was shaking in fear and Stiles reached out gently, resting a hand on his arm softly, he wanted to pull Dean into a hug, but he also didn’t want to scare him, not when he knew that Dean would probably only have experienced pain whenever someone touched him in the last few years, if his experiences had been anywhere near similar to Stiles’ and he imagined they were. 

“We won’t let him hurt you Dean. I promise, you are safe with us. We won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” Stiles said, glancing to Derek who nodded in response, there was no point in denying it, if Stiles wanted Dean to stay with them then Derek wouldn’t argue it, especially because the thought of sending the kid off into the world without any kind of family or friends repulsed Derek, no, Dean would stay with them as long as he wanted. 

“You don’t actually believe that drivel, do you?” Jerome sneered from near the tree and Dean flinched backwards slightly, hitting Scott who rested a hand gently on his shoulder to help calm him. 

“Dean, listen to me, we will never let him hurt you again. I want to kill him, we all do, he hurt Derek so he dies. I’d like to say that I’ll offer you a choice, that if you don’t want us to kill him then we won’t. But he trespassed on our territory, he hurt my friends, he attacked our pack and he nearly killed our Alpha. He dies. I’m sorry if you want otherwise, but he dies. Now, if you don’t want to see, that’s fine, why don’t you and Sam go with Melissa and Peter back to the house and wait for us there?” Stiles offered and Dean looked again at Jerome before shaking his head. 

“No. I need...I need to see him dead.” Dean whispered so quietly that Derek could barely hear him, but it was enough for him, he shifted instantly, his wolf roaring to take control, Derek’s hackles raised and he bared his teeth as all four paws hit the ground and he heard Jerome gulp audibly at the sight. 

“Alright, I can see this was a mistake, I’ll leave.” Jerome started taking a step backwards and then stilling in his steps, he looked to Stiles who shrugged innocently as Derek prowled towards him. 

“Don’t look at me. Personally, I’d enjoy the chase.” He grinned ferally as Jerome looked at him in horror before his gaze travelled to Dean who was standing with a hand outstretched, sweat forming on his brow as he held Jerome in place. 

“Caster! I forbid you to do this. Release me. Now!” Jerome shouted as Derek stalked towards him, only a few steps away now. 

“You have no power over me.” Dean said in reply as Derek pounced forward and killed Jerome in an instant. Dean stared at the dead body on the ground in shock, he’d thought about what it would be like to watch the man die, he’d thought about how much he wanted to kill him himself, he’d dreamed of it, convinced that once Jerome was gone he wouldn’t be so scared anymore. Except he was still scared. He was free from Jerome, he had no master, and he was still just as scared as he had been when he had to follow orders. 

“I get it.” Stiles said, crouching down slightly so he could look Dean in the eye, “Believe me I get it. Seeing my old masters die, I thought once they were dead, that I’d feel okay, that I’d feel like me again. And when I got my freedom, I thought I would stop being scared all the time, but it doesn’t work like that. It’ll take time Dean, but I promise you, you will feel like yourself again eventually, and we’ll be here with you, every step of the way, if you want to stick with us?” Stiles offered with kindness that Dean hadn’t experienced since his mom had been murdered. He had no idea how Stiles had been able to read his mind, maybe it was because he’d been in a similar situation himself, but he knew that Stiles was sincere in his words, that he truly believed Dean would feel better with time. Dean looked around at the pack surrounding him, at Sam who was giving him a hopeful grin and he nodded in agreement. 

“Sure, that would be...if you didn’t mind...I’d like to stay.” Dean said. 

“Of course, we don’t mind. We’re a family here kid, and you look like you need a family.” Noah said honestly and Dean nodded, feeling more than a little emotional at the kindness displayed by these complete strangers. 

“Okay, now that that’s settled can we please address the issue of how the hell you know Ethan and Aiden?” Isaac said, gesturing to the twins who were stood close by, looking at Stiles nervously, wanting to take a step closer to him but unsure how he or any of the Hale pack would react. 

“How do you know them?” Stiles asked in confusion clearly able to pick up on the anger in Isaac's voice, moving towards the twins and turning his back on them, facing the pack. The statement was obvious to all of them, Stiles trusted the twins enough to turn his back on them, and he was standing between them and the pack, protecting them from any threats. 

“Stiles, you can’t be serious, they tried to kill us!” Erica said in disbelief. 

“What? When?” Stiles asked in surprise. 

“They were part of the Alpha pack!” Cora said. 

“Deucalion’s pack? The pack that tried to kill Derek?” Stiles queried. 

“Yes! They tried to kill us too!” Peter snapped. 

“What are you talking about? When?” Stiles asked. “Hang on, wait, Deucalion was the pack member that left you for dead?” Stiles said turning to address Ethan and Aiden who both glanced at Derek before nodding in confirmation. 

“Deucalion told me he killed both of you.” Derek confirmed, “When he tried to kill me in New York.” He explained as Stiles stared at him in confusion, trying to make sense of the timeline in his head. 

“Okay, right, so, they were part of the Alpha pack that tried to kill you, then Deucalion tried to kill them because they said they weren’t going to kill humans, and then Kate found them...” Stiles explained. 

“Hang on, Kate found them? That’s when you met them?” Melissa asked. 

“Yeah.” Stiles replied, “Okay, so they made a mistake being with Deucalion, and they left him, so it’s not like they thought he was doing the right thing, they were just following their Alpha, and they decided against doing that and it nearly got them killed. So, you know, you can’t be angry at them, and, really, nobody got hurt, I mean, not permanently, right? I mean, it’s not like they actually managed to kill any of you. So, no harm no foul, right?” He offered and Derek stared at him incredulously. 

“Alright, say for one second that we forget about the fact that they were part of a pack that tried to kill us. How about you tell us how you know them and why Jerome thinks that they betrayed you?” Derek said, his eyes fixed firmly on Ethan and Aiden at the mention of betrayal who both ducked from his gaze, glancing to Stiles who shifted slightly, keeping between them and Derek, Derek stilled, realizing that Stiles was standing defensively, ready to protect the twins from Derek if he chose to attack them. “You’re their Alpha.” Derek said stunned, straightening up and relaxing his posture, hoping it would take some of the tension from the group. 

“What? No, I’m not.” Stiles said, relaxing slightly when Derek no longer looked like he was about to attack the twins. 

“Like you’re not Erica’s? Or Sam’s? Or Boyd’s?” Derek queried. 

“Yeah…but…that’s…Sam and Erica and Boyd, I’m not their real Alpha, like, I’m like co-alpha or whatever. You’re their Alpha. I can’t be their Alpha.” Stiles said in shock. 

“But you are.” Aiden interrupted, “You’re our Alpha Stiles, and we’re sorry, we’re so sorry, we tried to get back to you, we tried, but by the time we got out of the river…”

“Hey, hey, it’s fine, it’s okay. I told you to go. I didn’t want you to come back. I wanted you safe.” Stiles replied. 

“Stiles.” Derek said, his voice flooding with emotion, no longer angry, instead he was just concerned, “What happened? Stiles, what happened with you? How did you guys meet?” Derek asked and Stiles sighed, looking around the yard and then to the house. 

“How about we take this inside? Sit down, get a drink, let Sam show Dean around the house or something?” Stiles suggested, the pack all hesitated, glancing distrustfully at Ethan and Aiden before looking to Stiles, they knew that Stiles would never let any harm come to them, they knew he would never let the twins hurt them, even if he was their Alpha. 

“Okay, sure, let’s go inside and talk about this.” Noah said, gesturing to the house behind them and motioning for Ethan and Aiden to follow him. 

“Can I show Dean around afterwards? I want to hear how you know them? Please?” Sam asked as soon as they’d all sat down in the living room, the twins were resting on the edge of their seats, obviously uncomfortable, like they were ready to run as soon as Stiles told them to, Stiles was sat on the arm of their sofa, offering them comfort by his proximity, but still ready to get to his feet if necessary, although he was almost certain that everyone would stay calm and nobody would come to any harm, he still had to be prepared. As it was, he was tired, he was lower on magic that he wanted to be, he’d almost lost Derek today and he’d broken bindings that were never supposed to be broken, what he really wanted to do was sink into the sofa and sleep for a week and instead he was going to have to drag up the past again. 

“Alright, fine, so, simple version, you all know what Kate was like...” Stiles began and Dean put his hand up. 

“Who’s Kate?” He asked nervously and Stiles sighed, he didn’t want to drag it all up, but he knew Dean was going to be part of their family and he didn‘t want him to ever be nervous about speaking out, he knew what it was like to be afraid of what would happen when he spoke, and he never wanted to make Dean feel like that. 

“Kate was one of my masters, Derek killed her and took control until he was able to free me. She wasn’t a good person and she made me do a lot of bad things. No doubt Jerome did the same to you?” Stiles asked and Dean nodded silently, unable to believe that Stiles had actually answered him and not just shouted at him. “So, Kate was bored one night, and she ordered me to find the nearest supernatural creature so that she could hunt them. It was something she liked to do most of the time. So, I did, even though I didn’t want to, you know what it’s like when you try and fight an order. I found Ethan and Aiden, I could tell they were nearly dead anyway, I actually thought it would be better to go after them instead of someone else, because they were basically going to die either way, so it saved someone else to go after them. I didn’t like it. But it was the logical choice. We got there and they were seconds away from death, I thought that was it, Kate wouldn’t get her hunt, but watching them die would take the edge of her cravings. Anyway, she ordered me to heal them, which I did. And then their eyes flashed, and I realised they were Alpha’s, twin Alpha’s.” Stiles explained. 

“We couldn’t believe we weren’t dead.” Ethan said, looking at the faces in the room, “Stiles saved us, we couldn’t believe our luck, and then we realised we’d have been better dead.” 

“Kate forced me to bring them back to camp. She’d been looking for an Alpha for a while, to experiment on, and now she had two. She was so happy. So, she used them to experiment. To find out if I could be turned or if they were affected by my blood and so on...”

“Hang on, they are the Alpha’s that bit you? That’s their bite marks?” Derek said in horror, gesturing to where he knew the bite marks were hidden under Stiles’ shirt. 

“It wasn’t like they had a choice.” Stiles scolded and Derek pursed his lips, obviously annoyed that they’d bitten Stiles. “Anyway, eventually she ran out of tests to try and she decided that they were no more use to her. She’d been keeping them in cages, I slept in the middle one and they lived in the two on either side, and at night, when Kate and the others were asleep, we’d talk, it was kind of nice, to have someone to talk to, even though I felt so guilty, they were only in this mess because of me, they were only fed when I could sneak them scraps and I knew if Kate found out she’d order me to never feed them again, they were almost feral, it was like I could see them slipping away and I knew that Kate would hunt them and then she’d make me help her kill them and I couldn’t, I just couldn’t watch them die because of me, so many people had already died, I wanted to save them, I wanted them to live. So, she’d got all excited, told me about how in the morning we were going to have a hunt, that she’d give them a couple of minutes head start and then she was going to hunt them like the monsters they were. I had to do something. So, once she’d gone to bed, we talked, and I planned.” 

“What kind of plan?” Peter asked, curious how Stiles had managed to help them escape. 

“I knew Kate would track their scents, but if she lost their scent, she’d order me to find them. She knew that I always fought her orders as much as I could, so she was always specific, but she’d never bothered to learn their names, obviously, after that, she didn’t slip up again, she learned names so that she could order me to find them by name, but at that point, she didn’t. I knew that she wouldn’t order me to find Ethan and Aiden, she’d order me to find the twin Alpha’s, or the nearest Alpha, or something like that. She wouldn’t look for the nearest werewolf, because I might find one that wasn’t an Alpha, or the nearest twins for the same reason. She would be specific. So, I came up with a plan. I used my magic to find the nearest river, about two miles from our location at the time, and I asked what would they think if I used my magic to stop them being Alpha’s, just temporarily, and then once Kate lost their scent, she wouldn’t be able to find them.” Stiles explained. 

“Okay, first off, you can take an Alpha’s power? And, secondly, how does this link in with them betraying you?” Allison queried sceptically.

“Well, most importantly, they didn’t betray me. I never thought that. And I’ll explain in a second. But, taking an Alpha’s power. I can’t take it, like, I couldn’t just walk up to Derek and take his power from him. He’d need to offer it. And they offered. They trusted me and I knew it was the best plan to help them escape. I accepted their offer, and took their power, as soon as I knew they had escaped from Kate, I released it, at the time, I didn’t think it had worked, because I believed that they’d died, but if they’re alive, it had to have done, so it found it’s way back to them.” Stiles said. 

“Um, Stiles?” Aiden whispered and Stiles turned to look at him, Aiden flashed blue eyes at him, and Stiles stared at him in horror before he looked to Ethan who did the same. 

“What!? No! No, I gave it you back! I gave it you back! That’s how you survived the fall! Because you got your Alpha powers back!” Stiles insisted looking terrified and they both shook their heads, “God, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I thought it had worked, it definitely worked, I don’t have your power anymore, I can’t give it you back, I’m sorry, fuck, I’m so sorry.” He apologised repeatedly, obviously distraught but Ethan reached out a reassuring hand. 

“We were never meant to be Alpha’s Stiles. We’re okay with not being Alpha’s. We don’t need to be. We have you looking out for us and we wouldn’t want anyone else. There’s nothing to apologise for. It wasn’t your fault. We stole that power in the first place, we should never have had it.” 

“But, I don’t understand, if you're not Alpha’s, how did you survive the fall?” Stiles asked.

“What fall?” Cora interrupted. 

“Well, Kate started hunting us.” Aiden explained nervously, hoping that his explanation wouldn’t be the thing that caused the pack to throw them out and away from Stiles, “And we ran, as fast as we could. The two of us had already decided that as soon as Kate had lost our scent then we’d make our way back to the camp, we’d planned to be able to catch her by surprise, somehow manage to kill her before Stiles could stop us and then rescue Stiles, except, things went wrong. When she released us for the hunt, we ran for the river as planned, but Kate had sent the other three into the woods already, they blocked our paths, cut us off, the only way to get to the river was to jump off a cliff, a couple of hundred feet drop, we could hear Kate catching up to us, could hear that Stiles was with her, even if he was dragging his feet, and that he’d be forced to stop us from jumping, so we jumped.” 

“We came into the clearing just as they jumped, I released their power and I thought they’d got it back. Kate ordered me to track them, but I couldn’t find them, I thought it was because they’d died. I thought I hadn’t released their powers in time and the fall had killed them. I never imagined it was because you were alive and just not Alpha’s. I thought...I thought you were dead. I thought you were two more to die because of me. I never thought...I can’t believe you aren’t Alpha’s anymore, I’m so sorry. If I’d thought that it wouldn’t work, I never would have suggested taking your powers, I can’t even tell you how sorry I am.” Stiles said. 

“Stiles, honestly, you have nothing to be sorry for. It probably didn’t work because, by that point, we already considered you our Alpha. You risked your life to save ours. You protected us as best you could in the circumstances, you cared for us, fed us, healed our injuries enough that we were still able to escape. We wanted you as our Alpha, and we still do. If you’ll have us.” Aiden said and Ethan nodded from next to him. 

“As soon as we managed to get out of the river, we started to come back, we planned to come back to the camp and rescue you, because Kate would never have expected it, but we were too slow, and you’d gone. We’ve been searching for you ever since. Then we heard the Hale pack had a caster bound to them, and we started heading in this direction, we didn’t really have a plan, and we knew Derek was smart, but he never seemed evil, and I think we both sort of hoped that maybe he was treating you better than Kate had, that you might not be happy, but, that you weren’t having to hurt anyone, and that maybe Derek could be reasoned with, we both thought he was so smart for defusing the situation with Deucalion without having to spill any blood, and we hoped we could do the same, we just had to try and free you, to rescue you, except, then Jerome caught us, and he used Dean to force us in to confessing what we knew, and then he tried to kill you all, and we’re sorry. We never meant to make things worse for you, we just wanted to find Stiles, we just wanted to help.” Ethan continued. 

“It’s okay.” Derek said, surprising all of them, Stiles looked at him in shock and Derek shrugged, “I believe them when they say they looked for you; that they were on their way here to help you. Even though you obviously didn’t need their help. And, you were right. They were following Deucalion’s orders when they attacked us. I don’t know that I trust them, but I trust you, so if you say they are okay, then they are okay.” Derek said easily, several of the Hale pack looked at him like he’d lost him mind, “Would you prefer I threw them out?” 

“Um…I guess not?” Scott said, looking to Stiles uncertainly, “Not if it meant you’d leave too?” Stiles winced. 

“I couldn’t leave them by themselves, they risked their lives to find me, I wouldn’t want to leave you guys but…” Stiles trailed off looking torn. 

“Stiles, if you want to stay, and it’s not okay for us to be here…” Aiden whispered.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re staying.” Lydia snapped, “You’re pack now, both of you, and Dean. Welcome to the family.”

“Are you sure?” Ethan said in shock.

“Of course we are.” Cora agreed, “People can make bad decisions, but that doesn’t make them bad people. You’ve made good decisions when it really mattered. You left the Alpha pack because you didn’t want to kill people. You trusted Stiles to help you escape from Kate. You went after Kate to try and free him, even if you didn’t find him, and you risked your lives continuing to try and find him. Trust me, we want you to stay, just because you tried to kill us one time, and even that was following orders, we have all done worse than that, and we’ve always forgiven each other, because that’s what family does, and you’re family now.” Cora said and Stiles sighed in relief, he couldn’t believe that they would all be so okay with the twins, but he was so grateful, he didn’t know what he would have done if it had turned into a choice. 

“Great, so, now that they are staying, can we show them around the house? They can pick which room or rooms they want, although we haven’t got that many spare left, and Dean, you can share with me if you like? Or you can pick your own room too? It’s up to you, but if you stay with me then Stiles will come tell us stories each night and you’ll love his stories, they’re the best, Derek tries his best, but he can’t do magic, so they aren’t as good.” Sam said and Dean glanced at them nervously. 

“Dean, if you want your own space, or if you want to share with Sam, it’s fine with us, there’s plenty of space here for you. We can build extra rooms if necessary, it won’t take long. Maybe a few days to get my magic back, and a week or two for Derek to add the designs to the house so it all works together. We could probably do with building an extension anyway, it is getting a little cramped from time to time. But, off topic conversation, sorry, point being. You can have your own room and come listen to the stories, or we sometimes all crash in together when it’s been a stressful day, Derek has the best room for that because he has the biggest bed, but, it’s whatever you want to do. Don’t feel pressured into anything.” Stiles advised him and Dean nodded.

“Sure, well, Sam, you could show me around if that’s okay? Then I can decide where I’d like to stay?” Dean asked and Stiles smiled reassuringly. 

“After that, we’ll need to have a chat about getting some paperwork in place, you know, the same stuff we did for Sam, that we’ve adopted you and all that, then we can get you enrolled in school and you can make friends and all that.” Derek said and Dean looked on the verge of tears.

“Really?” He asked in awe.

“Of course. If you want to?” Derek offered and Dean did dissolve into tears then, rushing forward and wrapping his arms around Derek. 

“Thank you, I…I haven’t been to school in years, and I think I’ll probably suck…but thanks for making me feel like family when I tried to kill you guys.” 

“You didn’t try to kill us Dean. You were being forced. That’s the number one rule to remember. It was not your fault. None of it was. Trust me. I forget. A lot of the time. And I blame myself. But the only person to blame is Jerome. It was not your fault. And we can remind you of that whenever you like.” Stiles said and Dean grinned at him, looking so much younger and innocent and Stiles was eternally grateful that their paths had crossed, that he had been able to help him. He had no doubt in his mind that Dean would probably need time to adjust, that he’d need Stiles to remind him repeatedly that he was free and safe and nobody could hurt him, that Stiles wouldn’t let anyone hurt him, and Stiles was more than willing to do that, if it meant that Dean was happy. 

“Sam, why don’t you take the pack to show Dean, Ethan and Aiden around, I just want to have a quick word with Stiles.” Derek said and Stiles looked at him with a raised eyebrow as the rest of them left the room. 

“Everything okay?” Stiles asked. 

“So Eddie asked you out and you are worried that I might be embarrassed of you?” Derek queried and Stiles was startled that he burst out laughing, shaking his head in bemusement and following after the rest of the pack, “I did say this conversation wasn’t finished.” Derek called after him, grinning as Stiles rolled his eyes, grabbed his hand and led them to the others, “I’m serious. You know I would never be embarrassed by you; I think you’re amazing.” Derek continued sincerely. 

“Yeah, but, there’s a difference between thinking I’m awesome and wanting all of Beacon Hills to know that you are dating me, besides, everyone thinks it’s a lie, because why would someone as gorgeous and incredible as you be interested in me when I’m all scarred and messed up and that’s without people knowing about the nightmares and everything. I didn’t know if you’d want everyone knowing, and I didn’t want to tell people without at least having a conversation about if you want to tell people or not, and that’s why I didn’t say anything to Eddie, except then Danny stuck his nose in…”

“Stiles, I would freaking sing it from the rooftop if I had a voice even half as good as yours. I love you. And I want everyone to know. And if you’re okay with people knowing, then I will literally go down to the school and announce it over the speaker system, I’m totally okay with doing that.” 

“No. Nope. Not a chance.” Stiles said seriously, but there was laughter in his eyes and Derek grinned, he loved Stiles so much, he loved seeing him smile, he loved seeing his eyes light up with excitement, he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life making Stiles smile like that. 

“So, we’re clear on this? I am not embarrassed by you. I do not mind anyone and everyone knowing that we are together. And I am so goddamn lucky to have you. I don’t care what anyone says. I don’t care about what scars you have or what nightmares you have. All I care about is that you are alive and by my side, that I can be there for you when you need me, that I’m still there for you when you don’t need me. That we get to share our lives together. That’s all I care about. That’s all I want.” Derek insisted and Stiles smiled softly, leaning into Derek’s shoulder. 

“That’s all I want too. And if you are okay with people knowing, then good, because I’m going to go to Sam’s school tomorrow and tell Ms Lyngard that she’s not allowed anywhere near you because you are mine, and if she has any issues, with Sam’s behaviour, then she comes to me, not you. Let’s see how she likes it when the ‘bad influence’ shows her exactly what a pain in the ass I can be.” Stiles grumbled and Derek let out a bright laugh. 

“You’re not a pain in the ass. Or a bad influence. She’s an idiot.” 

“Too right she is. God, I hope Dean doesn’t have to deal with her too. Stupid woman. Surely she should be thinking about how to help her students, not trying to get in a parent’s pants. In fact, maybe I’ll report her for...I don’t know, inappropriate behaviour? Yeah. That’ll do. That’ll show her not to mess with me.” 

“There’s so many other ways you could show her not to mess with you. Like blast her with lightning, or drop a tree on her, or hit her with a car.” Lydia commented and Stiles gaped at her. 

“I don’t want her dead Lyds. Just maybe a little mangled.” He laughed in shock while Lydia shrugged. 

“Still plenty of ways to mangle her.” 

“Why are you so bothered?” Stiles asked in curiosity.

“Because she’s a teacher. Like you said, she should be concentrating on helping students, not trying to sleep with Derek. Not to mention, she’s judgemental. She judged you without even knowing you. And Sam said she wasn’t happy about him saying that two girls can be in love, or two boys. I think she needs to be taught a lesson. Attitudes like that are part of what’s wrong with this world. They shouldn’t have some bigot like that teaching our kids.” Lydia said heatedly and Stiles pursed his lips. 

“You’re right. I mean, I’m not going to hit her with a car, but maybe I do go speak to her and explain that Derek and I are together and we love each other and Sam and that if she can’t accept that, well, we’ll have to look at discussing it with her boss.” Stiles agreed, he was surprised Lydia felt so strongly about it, but she was right, and something did need to be done about it. 

Dean decided he wanted to share a room with Sam, at least for the time being, until he got settled and Stiles was absolutely fine with that. He did worry that Sam spent too much time around adult issues, no kid should have to deal with some of the stuff Sam did, and while Stiles knew that Sam wasn‘t like every other kid, the thought that he’d have someone closer in age to him was a good thing in his book. 

Ethan and Aiden decided to share a room at the end of the hall but they both looked at Stiles nervously when they saw him stood off to the side, as if afraid he wasn’t happy about it, or worse, that he was going to leave them. Stiles moved towards them, Derek guessed that Stiles was able to feel the distress through their bonds and he smiled happily at the knowledge that Stiles had finally bonded with them all. 

“How about we have a pack night tonight?” Derek suggested when Stiles rested a reassuring hand on Aiden’s shoulder, “My bed might just fit us all in.” He offered and Stiles grinned widely at him as he followed the rest of the pack towards Derek’s bedroom. 

After the day’s events sleep seemed to come easily for all of them, they were all exhausted, drained, and although there was the excitement of freeing Dean, and welcoming three new members to their pack, there was also the emotional trauma of knowing that Derek had been about to die, knowing that they had all been about to lose him, they could all still feel the agony of grief that had almost overwhelmed Stiles at the sight of Derek lying so still on the ground. All the ups and downs of the day had been physically and mentally exhausting, so it was no surprise to any of them that they were all asleep within minutes of climbing into bed. 

Stiles woke up first, he blinked awake in the early morning light, the sun had barely risen and he knew it was a few hours before they’d have to leave for school, his dreams had been filled with visions of Derek dead on the ground, his hands stained with Derek’s blood, Stiles had been unable to save him, unable to save any of them. They were all dead and he was bound to a new master, Jerome. He took a few seconds to calm his breathing, he had been so sure it was all true, that he had failed in his attempt to save Derek and that they had all perished because of it, except then he had felt his magic, soothing him, a warmth inside that couldn’t be fabricated, he concentrated on it, on what he knew as truth, that he had fallen asleep in Derek’s arms, that he was alive and well, they all were, and Stiles had managed to snap himself out of his nightmare before waking anyone else up. It wasn’t ideal, he’d definitely prefer not to have nightmares at all, but he was glad he had not disturbed anyone else, this time at least. He looked around slightly, seeing Derek still sleeping peacefully next to him, soft puffs of breath hitting Stiles’ cheek, his arms tightening around Stiles’ waist even in his dreams. Stiles smiled fondly, brushing his fingertips along Derek’s jawline and feeling his stubble shift slightly under the movement, Derek stirred slightly, but not enough to wake up and Stiles decided he would surprise them all by making breakfast in bed. He moved slowly, determined not to wake any of them up, as he extracted himself from the bed as delicately as possible and padded barefoot down the stairs. 

Derek woke to the sound of steady breathing around him, he knew instantly that Stiles was no longer in the bed, but he could feel the love and happiness emitting from Stiles through their bond and he couldn’t help but smile, Stiles was happy, he was home and happy and safe and he loved Derek and everything was going to be fine. He climbed out of the bed easily, following the scent of cooking bacon down the stairs and into the kitchen where Stiles was singing quietly to himself as he cooked mountains of food. Derek stared at the plates of food that were piled high all over the kitchen counter, there was a warm glow coming from above and below them and Derek knew that Stiles was using his magic to keep the food warm while he cooked everything else. 

“Morning.” Derek said, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ waist and nuzzling his nose into his neck so that he could inhale his scent deeply. 

“Hey.” Stiles replied, relaxing into the embrace, “You okay?” He said, resting his head on Derek’s shoulder. 

“Fine.” Derek mumbled quietly, nosing at Stiles’ neck and sucking on the skin over his pulse point delicately, “Just woke up and missed you. Come back to bed, food can wait.” 

“And why do you want me back in bed? Or your bed more specifically?” Stiles teased gently and Derek mock growled, catching the soft skin of Stiles’ neck in his teeth and nibbling slightly as Stiles let out a soft moan of pleasure. 

“Do you want me to tell you all about what I want to do to you in my bed? Or what I want you to do to me?” Derek whispered huskily as Stiles shivered under his touch, leaning against Derek, pressing his ass backwards softly enough that it brushed against Derek’s crotch. He tightened his grip slightly, trapping Stiles in his arms as he licked and sucked at Stiles’ neck, pressing his groin forward and smirking happily when Stiles let out a soft moan and turned away from the bacon, instead pressing his lips to Derek’s and kissing him hungrily, passionately, their tongues intertwining as they kissed almost desperately. Stiles’ hands went around Derek’s waist, pulling them closer together as the kiss continued, Derek shifted slightly so that he could cup Stiles’ ass gently and Stiles groaned with pleasure, one hand running up Derek’s back and tugging on his hair gently. Derek couldn’t help but thrust forward at that feeling, god, Stiles drove him insane, he wanted him so badly, but more than that, he loved him, he wanted to spend every free minute with him, he wanted to wake up with him and fall asleep with him, he wanted to hear Stiles tell him about his day, he wanted to share his day with Stiles, he just...wanted to be with him. At this precise moment in time however, Derek really wanted to be with Stiles physically, he wanted to take him upstairs, lead him into his bedroom, strip him down, kiss every inch of his body, let Stiles do the same to him, and then take turns making slow, tender, crazy, wild, incredible love to each other. The more Derek thought about it the harder it was to resist, his hands were already under Stiles’ shirt, feeling his warm skin under his fingertips, Derek could feel that they were both hard as they ground against each other and all he wanted to do was to take him upstairs and spend the day in bed with him. 

“Not that I wouldn’t want to watch, but there are little eyes here.” Lydia commented and Stiles and Derek broke apart like they’d been burned, turning to look at Lydia, Dean, Sam and Isaac who were all stood in the doorway and staring at them with wide eyes. 

“Um...morning.” Stiles said, flushing such a bright red that even the tips of his ears were scarlet, Derek was equally flustered, but his mind was still caught on the thought of getting Stiles upstairs. 

“You don’t usually see that in the mornings, don’t worry.” Sam muttered to Dean as he walked into the kitchen and started filling a plate with food from the side, Dean blushed slightly, glancing to Lydia and Isaac who were both pointedly refusing to look at Stiles or Derek and turning their attention to the food. 

“Um, so, is like, everyone dating each other? Do I have to date someone to be in the pack?” Dean asked uncertainly and Stiles paled. 

“No. No. Not at all. You don’t have to date anyone if you don’t want to, not now, not ever. You are part of this pack Dean, and you don’t need to date any of the pack to be part of it. Sure, if you like someone in the pack then that’s okay...”

“I don’t, you’re all way too old for me.” Dean commented quickly. 

“I’m younger than you!” Sam interrupted. 

“Yeah. Way too young. It’s cool. I just...I didn’t want to find out that this pack...family...thing comes with strings.” He explained. 

“Definitely not.” Derek said. “You’re pack. Nothing will change that. You’re family now Dean. And we want you to stick around for no other reason than we all know what it’s like to not have a family, to feel alone, and we like each other, sometimes we’ll argue and fall out, but we always make things right in the end, and what family doesn’t argue? We’d be odd if we didn’t. I mean, more odd, we are werewolves and casters and hunters and banshees and humans, so, I guess we’re a pretty odd mix anyway, but, you get my point.”

“Yeah I do. And, it sounds good. So long as I don’t have to have make out sessions in the kitchen then I’m fine with it.” Dean replied and Stiles blushed again. 

“That’s understandable, well, um, now breakfast is ready, I...erm...I need to go elsewhere. Derek, come with me?” Stiles raised an eyebrow and Derek looked at him in bemusement before nodding. 

“Sure, where are we going?” Derek asked as Stiles took his hand and led him out of the kitchen, they passed Scott and Cora on the stairs, both of them heading in the direction of food, Aiden was just exiting Derek’s bedroom as they approached and he raised an eyebrow in their direction. 

“Breakfast is downstairs, we’ll be down in a bit.” Stiles said quickly, pushing Derek into his own room and shutting the door behind them, Derek didn’t even have time to ask what Stiles was thinking before Stiles pushed him into the wall and started kissing him in the same way they had been doing downstairs. “God, you drive me insane.” Stiles muttered in between kisses, reaching down to pull Derek’s shirt off over his head, only breaking contact for the shortest amount of time before Stiles pressed their lips together again, his hands travelling along the sharp planes of Derek’s abs, moving down towards his waist band of his shorts, Stiles couldn’t help but feel smug when Derek groaned into his mouth as they kissed, it was obvious to both of them that they were equally excited as they ground into each other, their cocks achingly hard, desperate to be touched. 

“Stiles.” Derek whimpered, he could barely think straight, he was so hard and so horny and the feel of Stiles’ hands on him was driving him insane, he felt like he was going to end up cumming in his pants before Stiles had even touched his cock and he didn’t want to, not yet, he wanted to make Stiles feel as he did, he spun them easily, pinning Stiles to the wall and almost ripping his shirt in his haste to get it off, Stiles grinned widely at him as he pushed him away gently and back towards the bed. 

“Sit down.” Stiles instructed and Derek did so easily, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning forward to mouth at the outline of Stiles’ cock that looked just as eager to get out of Stiles’ trousers as Derek’s own. Stiles twitched his fingers and within an instant, Derek’s shorts were gone, leaving him sat naked on the edge of the bed, he looked up at Stiles in surprise who grinned at him in amusement. “Magic has it’s perks.” Stiles teased and Derek laughed, reaching forward to pull Stiles’ trousers down easily. 

“You have your perks.” Derek replied and Stiles snorted with laughter, stepping out of his trousers and climbing on to Derek’s lap, leaning in and kissing him, his fingers tangling in Derek’s hair as Derek ran his hands down to Stiles’ ass and cupped his cheeks, pulling him in closer as they kissed. 

“I love you.” Stiles whispered into Derek’s ear as he nibbled on it gently, his lips travelling down Derek’s neck as he licked and kissed his way down Derek’s neck, then back up and along his jaw and to his mouth, grinding against him slightly as he did so. 

“I love you too.” Derek muttered, kissing Stiles back like his life depended on it, he was so achingly hard it hurt but he was also aware that they’d never gone this far before and he didn’t want to push Stiles into doing something he didn’t want to, even though he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he would be able to stop himself. “Stiles...Stiles...” He said, gently pushing Stiles off him and trying his best to ignore the look of hurt on Stiles’ features. 

“What?” Stiles whispered, looking upset, Derek reached out and ran his hand along Stiles’ cheek, cupping it softly. 

“We shouldn’t rush this.” Derek said, the last thing he expected was for Stiles to snort with amusement, roll his eyes and climb back on to Derek’s lap. 

“I’m not rushing this. I’m not scared anymore.” He said confidently and Derek believed him, “I’m not.” Stiles insisted, “I could have lost you yesterday Derek, you were dying, and I was going to lose you. All I could think was how much I love you, and how I hadn’t told you, and I do love you. I love you so much. And I don’t want to wait. I know that between us we can handle almost anything, but I don’t want anything to happen and to have all these regrets, I want to tell you I love you, I want to kiss you, I want everyone to know we are together, I want to have sex with you, I want to spend lazy days in bed with you, I want everything with you, and I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to look back and think ‘if only’. I love you and I want to be with you in every way and I am not waiting just because I’m worried you won’t enjoy yourself or...”

“Why the hell would you think I wouldn’t enjoy myself?” Derek interrupted and Stiles blushed slightly.

“Well...it’s not like I’m that experienced. And you are. So, I guess, you’ll probably know what you’re doing, and I really won’t. And I don’t want you to not enjoy yourself, but I figure, I’m not going to get any better if I put it off. So why put it off?” 

“You are so ridiculous sometimes.” Derek laughed, pulling Stiles into a kiss and rolling them over so that he was lay on top of Stiles, “Okay, yes I have more experience. But none of them mattered to me. None of them were for any other reason than to try and have power over someone. I don’t want power over you. I would never want to do that. You matter more to me than anybody and anything else. I am scared that you won’t enjoy yourself, that it won’t be fun for you, but never in a million years will I not enjoy myself, because it’s with you. If I’m with you, I don’t care what we do. It doesn’t have to be sex. I enjoy holding your hand and kissing you and watching a film with you and spending time with you. Sex is not the be all and end all. Okay?” 

“But if I want to have sex with you?” Stiles asked. 

“Then I am totally on board with that plan.” Derek grinned and Stiles laughed, leaning up to kiss him slowly. Derek lowered himself down, kissing Stiles just as gently, as sweetly, slowly lowering himself on to Stiles until the length of their bodies were pressed together, their arms wrapped around each other as they continued kissing and grinding against each other. Stiles tugged gently on Derek’s hair, urging him on as their tongues collided, Derek was so hard he could barely keep it together, and feeling Stiles’ hard cock sliding against his own as they ground together, it was enough to bring him towards his climax. He pulled away before he ended up orgasming way earlier than he wanted to, instead meeting Stiles’ gaze, “Are you sure about this?” He asked, knowing he would stop if Stiles wanted to, but really, really wanting to carry on.

“I am if you are.” Stiles replied easily, mouthing his way along Derek’s neck and collarbones and Derek shivered with desire under his touch. 

“Okay. Do you want to be on top? Or would you like me on top?” Derek asked and Stiles grinned happily. 

“Do you have any idea how much it means to me that you would be willing to do that for me?” He said lovingly. 

“It’s not that I’d just be willing, I’d be happy to. I’ve told you already, I trust you. More than anyone. And I feel safe with you. I know I’m Alpha and everyone considers me to be in charge, but I will always trust your opinion, and I’d be happy if you are in charge too. We’re co-alphas after all.” Derek teased and Stiles laughed, smacking his arm playfully. 

“Maybe, this first time, I’ll be on top? And next time, we could try it with you and see how it goes?” He offered and Derek nodded, the thought of Stiles being willing to even try, it meant so much to him. 

“That’s good with me.” He replied, wrapping his arms around Stiles and rolling them slightly so that Stiles was on top, “Just, we’ll take it slow, okay? This is a first for me too, so, let’s take our time and just see how we feel, if neither of us are comfortable at any point, then we have to say so, promise?” Derek said as Stiles nodded his head in agreement, leaning down to kiss Derek again. 

Stiles was nervous, but it was a good nervous, it was exciting and nerve-wracking and new and good, so god damn good. He wasn’t sure he was even going to get to have sex with Derek because he was so close to orgasming at the thought of having sex with him, it was probably going to be over ridiculously quickly, but he was certain Derek wouldn’t mind. 

“Stupid question, but do we need a condom? Like, I know I haven’t got anything with the whole ‘being a virgin’ thing, and I’m almost certain that werewolves can’t carry anything even if you had caught something, but do we need one? Or is it okay for me not to use one?” He asked in between kisses and Derek chuckled quietly. 

“Why did I think that you wouldn’t have as much to say during sex?” He laughed, “No. No condom is fine. But lube is probably a good idea.” He said and Stiles nodded. 

“Okay, give me a second.” He twitched his fingers and a bottle of lube appeared on the nightstand, Derek fought back another laugh because of course Stiles would have to use magic to get lube, “Alright happy wolf, stop laughing.” Stiles laughed and Derek grinned at him happily, “God, you are so fucking gorgeous.” Stiles muttered almost in disbelief and Derek felt a blush on his cheeks, yes he knew he was attractive, but when Stiles said it, there were butterflies in his stomach and his heart skipped a beat and it was just unbearably sincere and beautiful and Derek felt so loved.

“Right back at you.” He replied, cupping Stiles’ cheek, his hand moving to the back of Stiles’ neck as he pulled him in for another kiss. 

“Jesus Christ, okay, wait, hang on, otherwise this is going to be over way too quickly.” Stiles said, reaching out blindly for the lube and opening it quickly, pouring it onto his hand and reaching down, firstly to stroke Derek’s cock and smiling happily when he shuddered in pleasure underneath Stiles and then moving further round, his fingers massaging the edge of Derek’s hole gently. 

“Fuck.” Derek groaned, unable to believe how good it felt already. 

“Okay, so, um, I think, is this okay?” Stiles muttered in between kisses, slipping the tip of his finger inside Derek and circling slowly, smiling smugly when Derek moaned in pleasure, nodding feverishly and reaching down to stroke Stiles’ cock. 

“God, yes, yes, so okay, more than okay, Jesus, god.” Derek whispered, already trembling in place, he was so hard, he ached to feel Stiles inside him, but Stiles took his time, taking the next few minutes to open Derek up slowly before he reached to his own throbbing cock, covering it in lube before looking back up to Derek. “Yes. Please. Please Stiles.” Derek begged and Stiles felt his cock twitch, he was already so close to his orgasm, he hoped he could at least satisfy Derek before it overwhelmed him. 

“Definitely?” Stiles asked quietly and Derek nodded again, leaning in to pull Stiles into a deep kiss. 

“Please Stiles. I want you to. I love you. Please Stiles, please.” Derek whimpered and Stiles bit his lip to fight the flood of desire he felt at those words. He moved forwards, inching his cock into Derek’s tight hole, ready to stop at a moment’s notice if Derek even hinted that it hurt. Instead, Derek threw his head back, exposing his throat, his whole body arching under Stiles as he felt the most intense pleasure he’d ever felt in his life, it was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes, it felt so fucking good, so good, he couldn’t even think straight. 

Stiles bottomed out a minute later and he glanced at Derek, it was so good, better than he could ever have imagined, that he could have ever dreamed up, Derek was so loving and so caring and so willing but he was also so hot and tight and the pressure was driving Stiles’ orgasm closer with every passing second. 

“You okay?” Stiles asked because he was desperate to know that he wasn’t hurting Derek, he longed to move, to thrust deeper and harder and make Derek cum so hard he couldn’t think straight, but he couldn’t. Not yet. He had to know Derek was okay. 

“Yes. God. Definitely. Yes. Are you?” Derek replied, leaning up gently to kiss Stiles and then groaning in pleasure when the movement made Stiles’ cock twitch in his ass. 

“Yeah. Definitely. Jesus fuck Derek, you feel so good.” 

“Not nearly as good as you feel inside me. Christ Stiles, I, Jesus, god, I just need, I’m so fucking close already, can you, shit, fuck, will you move for me please?” Derek panted and that question was enough to break Stiles’ willpower. He thrust forward quickly, and Derek let out a loud moan, his ass clenching around Stiles’ cock, his fingers tightening in Stiles’ hair as he exposed his throat again and cried out in pleasure. 

Stiles could have never imagined how incredible Derek would look underneath him, how much it turned him on having the Alpha submit so easily and willingly to him, as soon as Derek exposed his throat, Stiles broke their kiss and instead moved his lips there, kissing, licking, sucking and nipping at the skin there, forming small bruises that vanished a moment later as they healed. Stiles had no need to worry it bothered Derek, he whimpered and begged for more, practically writhing under Stiles, their bodies were coated with sweat as they both held off their orgasms and Stiles was determined to make sure that Derek came first, no matter how close he was himself. 

“Oh god, please, Stiles, please, fuck, fuck me, oh god, please, god, I can’t, I can’t...Jesus, please Stiles, more please.” Derek begged and Stiles grinned, sucking a little harder at Derek’s neck, thrusting harder into his ass, he reached down and grabbed Derek’s cock, stroking it slowly, in complete contrast to the hard, fast, deep thrusts into his ass. 

“Derek, Jesus, Der, I’m going to cum, I’m going to, fuck, fuck, Derek.” Stiles tried to warn him, knowing his own orgasm was mere seconds away and there was no way he could stop it, it was happening, he couldn’t hold it off any longer. 

“Stiles, shit, Stiles, god, cum for me, please, please cum in me.” Derek whimpered, his whole body seeming to tense for a split second and then he cried out in pleasure as his orgasm hit, his ass tightened around Stiles’ cock and that was enough to send Stiles spiralling over the edge. He gave one last deep thrust and came so hard that his legs were shaking as he spurted his hot cum into Derek’s ass. “Oh my god.” Derek panted in amazement, letting out a little huff of air as Stiles rested his weight on top of him, obviously equally as shocked by the strength of his orgasm. 

“Tell me about it.” Stiles commented from where his head rested on Derek’s chest and Derek couldn’t help but let out a fond chuckle. 

“So, you enjoyed it?” Derek asked a minute late and Stiles lifted his head up to look at Derek. 

“Of course I did. Was that not obvious? I very much enjoyed it. Did you?” 

“More than anything I could have ever expected.” Derek admitted, “And before you ask, I am more than happy to go for round two and three and four and five until neither of us can think straight.” Stiles laughed, shifting so that he was lay at Derek’s side, his head still resting on his chest. 

“You might have the recovery rates of a werewolf, but I’m pretty sure I still have human recovery rates. Although, maybe I could use magic to help? I don’t know. But I don’t think that I can survive five rounds in a row, I think I may die after one. My legs are like jelly.” 

“Well how about we take it in turns. There’s plenty of different positions we could try?” Derek teased. 

“Give me a minute to catch my breath. God, I had no idea you were going to be that impressed that you can’t get enough of me.” He joked. 

“I have never been able to get enough of you.” Derek said seriously, leaning down to give Stiles a peck on the lips that turned into something softer, deeper and more loving than Stiles could have imagined. He snuggled into Derek’s side, feeling so happy and so content, he’d never dreamed that he would get to be this happy again, it was easy to slip into a dreamless sleep. 

“I’m going to be late for school!” Sam shouted from outside the door and Stiles startled upright, looking at Derek who seemed to have also woken abruptly from his sleep. 

“Coming!” Stiles called, getting out of the bed and using magic to clean them both up as he reached for some clothes. “Honestly, we don’t even get a few minutes to bask in the afterglow.” He teased and Derek laughed, grabbing a pair of jeans and pulling them on quickly, moving to Stiles and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

“Tonight, we’ll spend as much time as you like basking in the afterglow, and, it’s Friday. Which means tomorrow, we don’t need to rush to get out of the bed if we don’t want to.” Derek grinned and Stiles bit his bottom lip, groaning slightly as his cock throbbed at the thought of having sex with Derek again. 

“Sounds like a plan to me.” He said, grabbing Derek by the shirt collar and pulling him in for a quick kiss, “Okay, so you and Peter are going to take Dean and get all the necessary paperwork done to adopt him and get him enrolled at school. I’ll take Sam and drop him off now. I should be able to pick him up tonight. And then when I get home I can talk to Dean about magic and what he knows and wants to learn and what I can show him, although, he’s had magic longer than me, so he probably knows more than me…”

“Stiles. Take a breath. You take Sam to school. I’ll sort Dean. And I’ll pick you both up later. I’ll bring Dean with me, show him the town. And Ethan and Aiden will need re-enrolling at your school. Are you taking them with you and Sam?” Derek asked and Stiles nodded quickly, looking around for his school bag before he paused suddenly. 

“Is this what it’s going to be like?” He asked and Derek looked at him quizzically, “You know…being together, being co-Alpha’s, being domesticated and looking after our family?” He expanded. 

“Yeah, I guess it is. Is that a bad thing?” Derek asked uncertainly and Stiles shook his head fondly. 

“No. It’s the best thing. I love you so much.” He said, brushing his lips over Derek’s before snatching up his bag and heading out of his room. “Sam, come on! Dean, Derek’s going to fill in some paperwork that he needs your help with. Ethan, Aiden, you’re with me. Come on! We’ll be late.” He called loudly as everyone seemed to rush from various rooms, some were still pulling shirts over their heads, others looking around for books. Stiles wanted to commit this moment to memory. For the first time, he realised what it was like to really be part of a pack, part of one big family, that this would be his life for the rest of his life, and he couldn’t be happier.


End file.
